A Creator of Chaos
by ajriser
Summary: A young girl from Wonderland decides to help Cora and Hook get to Storybrooke. She comes with them hoping to make a little chaos. There is something about the madness in her eyes, the playful malice in her smile, and the venom that laces her never ending sarcasm that intrigues and mystifies the residents of Storybrooke. Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time.
1. Chapter 1

The air in the pit was dry and dirty. Every breath she took felt like she was breathing in dirt. Her hands were bound and feet chained, but a smirk found its home on her chapped cotton candy lips. She hummed a whimsical tune, long forgotten by most. Her tangled dark purple hair appeared black in low lighting of the pit. Her new cell mate, that was not there moments ago, sat across the cell eyeing the young girl from time to time. They knew each other all to well. The girl began to mumble the tune she had been humming.

" _Run faster, run faster. From the house, be as quiet as a mouse. It can smell your fear. And now it's here-_ " Her almost incoherent mumblings were interrupted when a couple guards came into the pit. They were bringing in two prisoners, one conscious, one not. Two women, a blonde who yelled at the guards to be careful as they threw the other raven haired woman to the ground. If you haven't guessed the one yelling was the conscious one. Though what is consciousness? Is it a state of mind? A state of wakefulness? Self awareness?

The blonde checked over the other woman frantically, obviously worried for her. She whispered to her companion to wake up. A full grin stretched across the girl's face in the cover of darkness. Her dimples and perfect, straight, white teeth didn't go with the malice in her titanium eyes.

"Do you need help?" The gentle and smooth voice of her cell mate said. The girl schooled her features to mimic desperation and sadness. Her cue would come soon.

"Who are you?" said the blonde suspiciously.

"A friend," Her cell mate said gently, "My name is Cora."

The girl's eyebrow twitched slightly in amusement. As the older auburn haired woman came into the light. The rags she wore didn't do her mature beauty justice and the soft look she held gave her a trustworthy feel.

The girl sat with her back against one of the rough walls of the cell. She was shrouded from the newcomers by shadows. She had sat there in that pit for months. The clothes she wore were well worn and covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust. Her skin pale from months of little to no sunlight. Her educated eyes looked on as the two conscious women had a conversation. The blonde let Cora check on her friend or at least the girl assumed they were friends. Though the voice in her head said otherwise.

"Are you sure she's going to be okay?" The blonde asked as Cora looked her friend over.

"She'll be fine," Cora assured.

"What is this place?" The blonde asked as they both stood up.

"This island is what our captors like to call their haven," Cora explained.

"Haven? Haven from what?"

"From everything, I suppose. The world is a scary place now."

" Well, they can't keep us here forever. We didn't do anything wrong," The blonde said fiercely. The girl liked this woman already, she has spunk.

"Neither did I," Cora sighed dismayed.

"Then what'd you do?"

"Not me, my daughter. This course that ravaged the land, she cast it."

"Regina? You're Regina's mother?"

"Yes, but you have nothing to fear from me. The apple fell very far from the tree."

The girl would've snorted in laughter at that statement in any other situation. The blonde looked at the older woman with a hint of sympathy.

"You're from over there, aren't you?" Cora asked. "How'd you get back?"

"Emma," exclaimed the previously unconscious woman.

"Snow, I'm so happy you're okay," Cora said sweetly. So, this was Snow White. The girl's eyebrow twitched again at the new information. She shouldn't be surprised she was doing this with almost no background or complete plan. She was just told the goal, her cues, and her lines.

Snow gripped Emma's arms and warned her, "As bad as you think Regina is, this woman is so much worse."

"Oh, Snow, sweet Snow, believe me," She implored kindly, "Whatever she told you isn't true, I just want to help you."

Speaking of cues and lines. She quickly released herself from her chains using the little bit of magic she had, though one could hardly call it magic.

The girl got up and in a weak and childish voice she loathed said, "Cora?"

She stumbled into the light. She rubbed her eyes and yawned acting as if she had just woken up. When she met eyes with Snow and Emma, she widened her eyes and tensed her body. The two women's eyes widen comically.

"Cora, who are they?" She asked fearfully.

"This is Snow White and Emma, Ashley," Cora said sweetly. Ashley hated it when people used her first name, but she held her tongue for acting like a scared child purposes.

She gulped loudly and offered a weak smile. "Hello," She squeaked.

Emma looked at the girl in front of her. She couldn't be more than fourteen only a couple years older than Henry. Her hair was cut just below her shoulders. Her facial features were sharp and angular with the exception of her big round titanium eyes. The weak smile caused dimples to appear in both cheeks.

"Maybe we should give her a chance," Emma whispered to Snow White.

"Emma," Snow said forcefully.

"Look at the moment, we are at the bottom of a hole with no other options," She whispered, "And Henry is back in Storybrooke with Regina."

"Who's Henry?" Cora asked, having heard everything Emma said.

"He's my son, I kind of share him with Regina, it's complicated," Emma explained. Ashley quirked her eyebrow at this.

Snow White turned around to Emma, "Don't talk to her."

Emma sighed and opened her mouth to say something when a ripe was thrown down.

"Enough," A guard ordered. They all looked up at him. "Our leader request an audience with the _new_ captives."

Ashley and Cora watched in silence as Emma and Snow climbed up the rope and out of the pit. There was a beat of silence. Ashley let out a low whistle, "So, that was Snow White and her daughter, I'm guessing."

Cora raised her eyebrows, "How'd you figure it out?"

The girl wiggled her eyebrows and smiled maliciously, "The voice told me."

Cora narrowed her eyes and poofed out of the pit. The girl giggled silently to herself. She began to talk quietly to herself, "I'm going to enjoy this. Though I admit acting like a scared childish is rather annoying. Though to get out of here I suppose it's worth it. Oh, how I've miss you, chaos, my old friend."

She sighed before reaching into her back pocket and pulling out an old pocket watch by it's golden chain. She swung it so that it landed in her other palm smoothly. She clicked the button to open the pocket watch. The glass was dirty and smudged, but the watch ticked and tocked on.

" _Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock,_ " She said in a singsong voice before erupting into giggles. She tucked the pocket watch back into her pocket. "What wonderful chaos this will be." She added bitterly, "Only the best for my queen."

The two women and Cora never returned just as she had been told to expect. She had also been told it would perhaps be a few days before her next cue. It was only four days, she had to wait. She had heard the screams from the pit the night before as Cora went through the haven killing everyone. Oh, how she longed to join the chaos, but she knew the part she must play for now.

She hummed the forgotten song as she waited anxiously for anything. Any feeling that they were back. Then her highly trained ears heard it. A voice. Soft and distraught with grief, but a voice none the less. A wide wicked grin spread across her face. Moments later, she heard yelling about someone being alive.

"So, they found the one-handed wonder," She murmured mockingly. Now, would be a good time to make herself known.

"Hello? Is someone there," She yelled desperately. Then much to her disgust, whimpered weakly, "Help me, _please_."

She managed to squeeze out a few tears before Snow White's face appeared in the sky light. She looked heartbroken at the sight of the young girl. She reassured, "We're here, honey, we're going to help you."

" _Thank you_ ," She said quietly and forced out more tears. Seconds later, the rope was lowered and she was pulled out of the pit. She crawled out of the pit feigning weakness.

"Maybe you shouldn't," Aurora said hesitantly, "Let her out, she was imprisoned for a reason."

"She is a little girl," Snow White snapped at the princess. "Ashley-"

"Please, don't call me that," She interrupted Snow, her tone and eyes pleading.

Snow hesitated, "Okay, what do you want us to call you?"

She met the older woman's eyes and made tears well up in her eyes. She opened and closed her mouth several times. Then, let a small smile slip onto her face. "My friends call me Chessur."

 ** _So, what do you think? If you enjoyed this then feel free to follow, favorite, and/or review. I love it when I get reviews, they make my day._**


	2. Chapter 2

_She walked through the battlefield without hesitation. The battle long over. Her eyes dark and searching. She scanned the face of every body and when she found they were not who she was looking for moved on. Her infamous smile was gone and replaced with a displeased grimace. She noticed a white hare off to the side. She approached him and kneeled down next to him. His heart beat was barely there but he smiled at the eleven year old, "Why isn't it Chessur, you're late for the battle."_

 _She would've chuckled if her friend wasn't so injured. She asked him, "What happened?"_

 _"The jabberwocky, my dear," He coughed up some blood afterwards._

 _She hissed in a very cat-like manner, "Where is Alice?"_

 _"She never showed, I dare not think of what may have happened to her," He said as he reached into the pocket of his blood-stained waist coat. He pulled a pocket watch out of his pocket and forced it into her hand, "So, you won't be late again."_

 _The talking rabbit's white paw grew limp in her hand. She took in a deep breath to steady her heart. She stood up abruptly and screamed out, "Alice!?"_

 _She turned in a full circle before screaming out the name of their supposed saviour again. She stumbled through the battlefield as tears streamed down her face. She continued to scream, "You were supposed to save us! Alice! Alice, where are you!?"_

 _She screamed her throat raw. She cried her eyes dry. She searched until she couldn't take it anymore and fell to her knees. She had no more tears to shed, so she smiled and started to laugh. The laughter was bitter and raspy. The smile extremely wide to fit all the malice that filled it. The laughter slowly grew louder and more frantic. She threw her head back and laughed more._

 _"Why are you laughing, dearie?" A high-pitched almost whimsical voice asked._

 _She struggled to stop her laughter as she rose to her feet and turned to the stranger. Her toothy smile was still there and madness was alight in her eyes. She said simply, "What else do you expect me to do?"_

 _"Are these not you're friends' bodies? Who died, because your saviour, Alice, couldn't be bothered to show," Rumpelstiltskin asked curiously as he watched the young girl warily._

 _"I have cried. I have screamed. I have searched for that, that bitch. Though they still lay dead, so I do the one thing the one thing I am best at," Chessur paused, "I smile."_

 _Rumpelstiltskin looked at the purple haired girl with new interest, "What do they call you?"_

 _She smiled even wider if possible, "The name is Chessur, but the nick that named me called me The Cheshire Cat."_

 _Rumpelstiltskin narrowed his eyes at the girl's foolish antics, before he concluded, "You're mad."_

 _Her eyes seemed to light up, "We're all mad here, I'm mad, You're mad." She punctuated that statement with a giggle._

 _"What makes you think I'm mad?" He asked._

 _"You must be," She said with a bittersweet laugh, "Or you wouldn't have come here."_

 _He cracked a smile, "Fair enough."_

 _"What are you doing here? You're not from Wonderland," She stated._

 _He raised an eyebrow, "How did you know?"_

 _"I don't know, I feel," Chessur corrected with a giggle and an eye roll._

 _"I am here on business," He said simply._

 _"What kind of business?"_

 _"Curiosity killed the cat, dearie," He said with a slight growl._

 _Her grin stretched impossibly wide. Her eyes big and filled with madness. Dimples prominent in her tear-stained cheeks. Her dark purple tail coat, black riding pants, and leather boots streaked with blood from her friends and dirt from the battlefield they died on._

 _"Yes, and satisfaction brought it back," Was her malice filled retort and this sentence as well was punctuated by a fit of giggles._

-coc-

Chessur sat across from the one-handed wonder with her knees drawn to her chest rocking back and forth slightly. They were both doing excellent jobs acting like traumatized survivors. Though while neither of them were big fans of the slaughter they knew what they had to do. She could feel the suspicion coming off of Emma though as she approached the two of them with cups. Mulan filled the cups with water and they both drank out of them.  
"A camp full of corpses and you two are the only ones to make it out alive, how exactly did that happen?" Emma asked. Chessur took a drink of her water to hide her smirk.

Hook recounted a loose version of the truth, but Emma wasn't convinced. In fact, she told him that much more or less. He started talking about how he could guide them through the land. Then, Emma pulled out a knife and held it to Hook's throat, "We aren't going anywhere till you tell us exactly who you are."

She knew they'd been found out so she quit the act. She laughed and stretched her legs out, "Oh, I like you."

They all looked at her with varying looks of shock and confusion. She had a deeper voice than the once she had been using and a British sounding accent. She leveled them all with an amused look.

"Oh, come on might as well drop the ruse. You can't charm you're way into this one's trust," She said playfully.

"Who are you?" Mulan demanded.

"The queen of the Enchanted Forest," She said sarcastically, "No, wait, she's over there in the pink sweater."

Chessur grinned widely as Snow put her hand on her sword's hilt. Chessur continued, "Wait, were you addressing me or the one-handed wonder?"

They tied the two up to a tree. Snow was hesitant to tie up Chessur, but did so eventually.

"Tell us who you really are," Emma demanded of Hook after they were both tied up.

"I'm telling you, I'm just a black smith, that girl is crazy," Hook exclaimed.

"I prefer mad, thank you very much," Chessur said.

"If you won't talk to us then you can talk to the ogre's as they rip you limb from limb," Emma threatened. She turned around, whistled loudly, and then started to walk away with the rest of her merry women.

"What if he's telling the truth?" asked Aurora over the distant roaring of ogres.

"He's not," Emma said confidently without turning around or faltering. Chessur smiled widely at the woman's threat feeling a familiar rush of adrenaline.

"Good for you," said Hook, "You've bested me, I can count the number of people who have done that on one hand."

Emma turned around and stalked towards them, "Is that supposed to be funny? Who are you?"

Hook sighed, "My name is Killian Jones, but people have taken to calling me by my more colorful moniker, Hook."

"Hook," Snow exclaimed.

"Check my satchel," Hook said.

"Hook?" Emma questioned unimpressed, "As in Captain Hook?"

"So, you've heard of me?" Killian said lightly as Snow pulled out a shiny hook from his satchel. An ogre roared from not to far off.

"There getting closer so _you_ ," Emma jabbed her finger at Chessur, "Better tell us who you are and you both better explain yourselves, if you don't want to be eaten."

"Simply a creator of chaos, my dear," Chessur said cryptically with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"Thus isn't time for your games," Killian exclaimed.

Chessur huffed, "You're no fun, Captain." She looked at Emma with an impossibly wide grin, madness glinting in her eyes, "What if I don't mind being eaten, seems a good way to die. Helping another being survive."

Emma honestly couldn't tell if the girl was bluffing or not. She found it hard to believe this was the same girl they had dragged out of the pit crying. Another roar even closer sounded out.

"Just tell her your bloody name," Killian yelled.

"Wait, you don't know her name?" Snow asked.

"No, but you do. I wasn't lying, Chessur is one of my names," She explained tilting her head to the side. Her grin only grew when another roar met their ears.

"Tell them your real name," Hook demanded.

"What if my reality is different than theirs'? Then what I consider my _real_ name, they may not."

Killian growled, "Stop being so damn difficult."

Chessur sighed, "Fine, all this talking has ruined my mood for being eaten." She looked Emma in the eyes and there was a beat of silence where they just stared at each other. "You would know me by the name, The Cheshire Cat."

Snow and Mulan's eyes widened and reached to pull out their swords. Emma looked back at her mother and Mulan shocked by their reactions to this small girl.

Killian said, "Cora sent us to get your trust, to learn all your secrets about your Storybrooke. She didn't want any surprises when she finally got over there."

"She can't get over there," Snow exclaimed, "We destroyed the wardrobe."

"Yes," The Cheshire Cat giggled, "But she collected the ashes and she can use those to open a portal."

Another roar, closer than ever.

"Alright, now cut us down," Killian said.

"No, we should leave them here to pay for the lives they took," Mulan said forcefully.

"Hey, that was Cora, there is no blood on our hands." Chessur added with a thoughtful expression, "Well, there is, just not theirs'."

"Ignore her," Killian pleaded.

"Let's go," Emma said looking between the two of them. They started to walk away, but Chessur had other ideas.

"Wait," Chessur said, "You need me."

"Why's that?" Snow asked.

"We are all after the same thing, to go to your land," She implored.

"How is this helping your case?" Emma asked stepping closer.

"We arranged for transport with Cora, but you seem much more... intriguing. The ashes will open a portal, but she needs something to guide to portal to your land without it there is no way of know where you'll end up," Chessur explained, "The one-handed wonder and I were supposed to get it for her. I'll help you get it with two conditions."

"And those are?" Emma asked slowly.

"I can't believe I am saying this, but cappy comes with and you give us both transportation to your land," Chessur said reluctantly.

"Why do you two want to go to Storybrooke?" Emma asked raising her knife as more ogre roars sounded.

Killian answered seriously, "To enact revenge on the man who took my hand, Rumpelstiltskin."

Chessur shrugged and said, "It is a mixture of boredom, curiosity, and bad judgement."

Emma didn't look amused by her answer, but began to cut them down all the same. When they were let down their hands were immediately bound and they were pushed in the direction they were to be heading in. They walked briskly away before the ogres to show up.

-coc-

 _"I'd like to make deal with you," Rumpelstiltskin said briskly._

 _"And what would the terms of this deal be?" Chessur asked quirking an eyebrow._

 _"I want you to kill someone for me and in return, I shall bring Alice to you," He smirked at the dark look that came over her face though her smile was still there. "He lives in the Enchanted Forest, so-"_

 _"I'll do it," She cut him off, "I can't imagine being here after this."_

 _With a flourish of his hand a contract and quill appeared in his hands. He handed the two objects to her. She read through it thoroughly, twice. Her signature Cheshire grin never left her face. She signed the bottom line with her messy cursive, Ashley Chessur._

 _"Then, it is a deal," He said with a smirk, "I'll be looking forward to you holding up your end of the bargain."_

 _"And I yours."_

 _"His name is Myron Owings. He is a knight of the Evil Queen's who hadn't fulfilled his end of a deal, by a given deadline. I'll take you to the Enchanted Forest after I'm done with my business here," Rumpelstiltskin informed her._

 _"I don't care, if it was the Evil Queen's own daughter. If you fulfill your end of the bargain, they will be dead," Chessur said allowing the madness to take over for the first time._

 ** _Did you like that? It's longer than the first chapter, I think. If you liked it don't be shy, follow, favourite, and/or review. Favourite/Follows make my day and reviews make my week._**


	3. Chapter 3

_Two months ago, Chessur met Rumpelstiltskin. Chessur now walked around the Enchanted Forest in a state of wonder. She could feel the chaotic energy coming off this place. She didn't regret coming here, but perhaps she regretted making that deal with The Dark One. She was eleven for madness sake. Though the thought of killing Alice for abandoning them sent an unexplainable rush through the girl. She wanted her dead, and the life of a knight would be well worth it._

 _Now, she only had to find her target. Rumpelstiltskin said he lived somewhere around here, but where exactly? She did not know, so she wandered._

 _"I am free of Wonderland, and now I wander this land," Chessur said with a giggle and a smirk, "If I wander over yonder, I wonder where I would wander."_

 _She hummed a dark and whimsical tune as she walked. The background noise of the forest was much different than Wonderland. Where were the madmen? The annoyingly cryptic giant caterpillar smoking a cigar? The talking rabbits and mice? Hell, she'd settle for seeing The Mad Hatter at this point, and she loathed The Mad Hatter. He was such a downer, and he struggled so hard against the madness of Wonderland. Perhaps that what kept him on the edge of insanity instead of going completely mad. Always mumbling about grace._

 _She heard a twig snap behind her. She kept walking and started to sing the dark and whimsical tune._

 _"Run faster. Run faster. From the house, be as quiet as a mouse. It will set the town alight. Maybe you'll survive this night," She sang softly as she continued to walk. She looked out of the corners of her eyes. She could feel their eyes on her, and hear their heavy boots crunching stopped walking and started to laugh. They had her surrounded and trapped, but The Cheshire Cat was never truly trapped._

 _The bandits, who had surrounded her, eyes widened as the little girl started to vanish. Not in a poof of smoke like when one teleported. Slowly from the feet up, her body started to vanish. She continued to laugh in a way that deeply unsettled the bandits. Her eyes twinkled with a madness that shouldn't belong to a eleven year old. Soon, her head started to vanish. The last things to vanish were her titanium eyes and Cheshire grin._

 _-_ coc-

"So, you're a cat?" Emma asked as they walked.

"I suppose it matters what a cat is to you," Chessur said simply with a lazy smirk.

"There is one category of animals that could be considered cats, you know tigers, lions, calico cats," Emma said confused.

"If that is you definition of cat, then no I am not a cat," Chessur answered.

"There is only one definition of cat," Emma insisted.

"One day, someone looked at those animals and thought they should be called cats. Therefore, it is an opinion and I can very well call them Glenstorters, if I want," She countered stubbornly.

"Emma, you shouldn't be talking to her," Snow warned, eyeing the young girl warily, "She's insane."

Chessur sighed, "Mad, I prefer mad. When will anyone get it right?"

Emma ignored Chessur and asked her mother, "Why she's like thirteen? What's the worst she can do?"

"Fourteen, actually, if you don't consider the twenty eight years I spent frozen," Chessur interjected, but was once again ignored.

"The Cheshire Cat was an assassin from Wonderland in the Enchanted Forest," Mulan explained, "She would do any job that created some kind of disorder, but she did jobs for Rumpelstiltskin for a while."

"No, not disorder, I'm not some kind of arse who went around messing up people's rooms. I created chaos, my dear," Chessur corrected. With a dismissive gesture of her bound hands she said, "As for Rumple, well, let's just say it's been a long time since I spoke with the imp, and I'm not referring to the frozen years. How is old Rumple dumple?"

Emma eyed her with new suspicion. Though she didn't say anything. The girl did have a weird vibe coming off of her. Emma couldn't completely put her finger on it, but this girl unsettled her for some reason. She said the strangest things and all the while with that wide mischievous grin. The way she talked about Rumple was strange too. Everyone she had met so far didn't speak lightly of him as this girl did.

They continued to walk in almost silence. The only noise any of them made was that Chessur continued to hum that dark and whimsical tune. None of the others knew it and would look at her curiously from time from time. Chessur on first glance was having the time of her life it appeared. Though there was something in her eyes besides mischief that none of them could place and some kind of darkness that touched her Cheshire grin.

Aurora broke first, "What are you humming?"

"An old tune about Wonderland, any others who would know it are memories now," Chessur said and for the first time her smile faltered slightly. It was just a twitch in the corner of her mouth, but Snow and Emma saw it. The two women shared a look of confusion.

Then as the group rounded a bush a large beanstalk that extended up and into the clouds came into view.

"The compass is up there," Killian said simply.

"If these magic beans can create portals, why don't we just pick one?" Emma asked as they approached the beanstalk.

Chessur laughed as Killian explained, "Because there aren't anymore beans. I don't know what you know about the giants, but I assure you that the real version is much more gruesome."

"There was a guy named Jack, a cow, an angry giant, and a golden goose or harp," Emma listed off. This only made Chessur laugh harder as she fell to her knees. "Why is she laughing?"

"Because what really happened was that the giants grew the beans. Though rather than use them for good, they used them to plunder the lands. Jack was a giant killer, and the beans were destroyed by the giants before they died. If they couldn't have the beans, no one could."

"I like your version though," Chessur said taking in a deep breath, "It's cute."

"So, why doesn't anyone just go up there and grow more beans?" Emma asked as she shot a glare at Chessur.

Chessur rose to her feet and a dark look overcame her features, "There remains one giant, and he's a nasty bugger. The biggest and strongest of all the giants, a bloody thirsty brute."

"We'll have to get past him to get..." Killian trailed off.

"The magic compass," Snow said.

Chessur giggled, "Exactly."

"The treasure remains and amongst it is the compass," Hook explained, "Cora has the means to get to your land using the ashes, but without the compass to guide her to your land, she probably won't get there. Now, if we get the compass first, we just steal the ashes, then we are off on our merry way."

"How do we know you two aren't using us to get the compass to Cora," Mulan asked suspiciously.

"I can't speak for the cat, but for me you four are far safer company," Hook said, "I just want to get to your world. I'll swear allegiance to who ever gets me there first."

"I have no loyalty to Cora," Chessur laughed bitterly, "Quite the opposite really, our deal was based on mutual needs and uneasy, _temporary_ , tolerance."

Emma approached the the bean stalk and said, "Then we better start climbing."

Chessur giggled, "Oh, you tell them, cappy."

"Right, so," Killian said hesitantly, "I failed to mention that the giant enchanted the bean stalk to repel intruders."

"Then how do we get up there?" Emma asked impatiently.

"Cora gave us each a counter spell, so we can climb it," Killian said.

They both held out their bound hands with smug expressions. Chessur said with a large smirk, "If you don't mind?"

Emma untied Chessur's hands while Killian was untied by Snow. Emma said lowly, "I better not regret this."

"To be honest, You probably will at some point, I can be quite vexing," Chessur said only half joking.

When they were untied, Killian held up his hand that had a glowing leather cuff on it, "Cheshire has one of these too, but I assume you don't want doth us going up there. Cheshire, do you mind?"

"Not at all, Mr. Jones," Chessur said with a smirk as she took off her own enchanted cuff. She handed it to Killian, who held it up.

"Now, which one of you lovelies would like to go up with me? Go on, fight for it."

"Don't be afraid to really get into it," Chessur supplied as they both wore matching mocking smirks.

The women argued about who should go up. Various points were brought up. Mulan was the best warrior and equipped. Snow was desperate to get home to loved ones. Aurora had no loved ones, so if she failed they could keep trying. Then, there was Emma who had her son. The love of a mother for her child is almost unrivalled. Emma was the one decided to go up with Hook. She took Mulan to the side and they spoke in hushed whispers.

Chessur took out her pocket watch and swung it into her hand. It popped open and she checked it. Killian peered over to look at it and grimaced.

"Ladies," He said, "In this world, we are slaves to time, and we are running out."

 _"Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick,"_ Chessur chanted rhythmically.

Emma approached Hook with a scowl. He said lowly, "I was hoping it would be you." He gestured to his shoulder. "Put your hand here."

"That will allow you to climb," Chessur said, "There will be other dangers, of course."

"But, thankfully you have me to protect you." Killian looked pointedly at his arm that was missing a hand. When Emma just gave a small condescending smile, he reasoned, "You can't expect me to climb one-handed, do you?"

She reluctantly handed his hook to him and said, "Don't think I'm taking my eyes off you for a second."

"I would despair if you did," Killian said sarcastically.

With one last look at Snow, Emma started to climb the bean stalk. Killian gave Chessur a small salute before he began to climb as well. She returned the two-fingered salute with a lazy smile. As they started to climb up higher the four of them eventually stopped watching them.

Chessur sat cross legged on the ground with her eyes closed. She could feel their looks though. She just sat and waited for one of them to speak.

"So, you're The Cheshire Cat?" Snow said slowly.

"That's what nick named me," Chessur said.

Chessur was sure that Snow was shaking her head and looking at her bewildered. Snow said, "I thought you'd be older."

"I should be forty two," Chessur paused, "Damn, I'm old."

Chessur opened her eyes to look at Snow who looked extremely conflicted. That was most people's reaction when they realized that a well known assassin is a child. Snow asked, "Do you have any family?"

"Blood of the convent is thicker than the water of the womb," Chessur answered cryptically. She was pleased with the confused look that came over Snow's face. She took that opportunity to gain control of the conversation, "So, you are the legendary Snow White?"

"Yes," She stammered slightly thrown off by the question, "I don't know about legendary, though."

"Oh, you are indeed a legend."

"How so?"

"In the end, we are all only memories. Legends never die in the minds of men and then there are those who are more fleeting than others. You were basically dead to the people of this land, but never forgotten," She said sagely, but the bitter undertone and Cheshire grin gave the words an edge.

Snow only nodded and walked over to sit next to Aurora. Chessur sat back and waited for time to pass. Mulan had set up a makeshift sundial and Snow was watch Aurora sleep. Killian and Emma started to disappear from sight.

Chessur took out her pocket watch and instead of opening it studied the intricate engravings. It was a simple brass pocket watch, but it was free of rust and still had a slight shine from years of delicate care. On the one side there was a detailed picture, a long table with several people and animals siting around it having tea with The White Queen sitting at the head. On the other side, a picture of The Queen of Hearts and her Jabberwocky.

Chessur focused on the side that depicted a tea party. She ran her thumb over a mouse in a dress standing on a tea pot. A rabbit with it's ears cocked at strange angles. The White Queen in a beautiful dress, Chessur remembered it being pure white. A well-groomed hare in a waist coat. A pair of stout twins in striped shirts. The Mad Hatter before he had been imprisoned by the Queen of Hearts. She ran her thumb over the depiction of herself sitting next to the Mad Hatter.

She clicked open the pocket watch. The hands and gears were made of silver and gold. The watch was enchanted to always tell the correct time no matter where you are. She spit on the glass, and cleaned it gingerly with the cotton of her shirt. On the inside of the cover was another picture. It was a woman in a suit of armour and holding a sword up in the air as if she were about to charge into battle. The only imperfection on the watch as that the armoured woman's face had been scratched out beyond recognition and a question mark scratched into her breastplate.

Chessur swallowed the growl that built up in her throat. She ran her thumb over the question mark repeatedly. She had crudely inscribed that question mark with a knife, so many years ago. A playfully malicious smile found it's home on her face, and a snicker was released.

Chessur decided to take a cat nap while she waited for the two to return. She was awoken by a shot of adrenaline that came when two powerful forces clashed. She shot up and yelled, "Who's fighting?"

Chessur looked around in time to see Snow tackle Mulan as she tried to chop down the bean stalk. Emma must have asked her to chop it down by a certain time, that would explain the sundial. Chessur took in the large gash in the bean stalk and that Hook and Emma were no where in sight. Aurora looked conflicted and confused on what to do. Chessur looked up at the sky. She pinched the brudge of her nose and sighed, "Can't even take a half decent nap, before these idiots get into a fight."

They grappled on the ground as Aurora yelled at them to stop. Chessur just stood there with a smile, enjoying the conflict and chaos. She looked up at the bean stalk to see Emma jumping from about ten feet up. Chessur grinned as the woman landed not so gracefully.

"Stop," Emma yelled at Mulan and Snow.

"Emma," Snow shouted in relief. She ran over to her daughter and gripped her arms. "Are you okay?"

"Two earthquakes and a jump from a beanstalk, I think my brain is still rattling, but I got the compass," Emma said.

"I did only what she told me to, nothing more," Mulan said as she walked up to the pair.

Chessur smirked when she didn't sed Hook coming down the bean stalk. With a smug tone she asked, "Where's Hook, Emma?"

Emma looked at her and hesitantly said, "He's detained... for ten hours."

"How?" Chessur pressed for answers.

"I have a friend looking after him," She said cryptically, "We should be going."

"Are you still taking me with you?" Chessur asked smiling widely.

They all looked at her warily eyeing her up and down. Emma spoke up, "I'm giving you a chance, because you're just a kid."

Chessur quirked an eyebrow, "Fair enough. As long as you understand, my reputation is much worse than the one-handed wonder."

Emma nodded and turned to Snow who asked, "Did you really tell her to cut down the bean stalk?"

"If I didn't make it-"

"Emma, we make it back together that is the only way, do you understand?" They hugged. "Good, now let's go get that dust from Cora..."

"And get back home," Emma finished.

"This is sweet and all, but time continues to tick and tock, and we can't stop the clock. So, hurry up with the hugs and relieved smiles, before it is too late," Chessur interjected as she walked past the two, "And I do loathe being late."

-coc-

 _Now invisible, Chessur tiptoed to behind a bandit who was hiding behind a tree. They all stayed behind their respective trees, but looked around warily for the girl. She grabbed the man by his hair and hit his head roughly against the tree. He immediately passed out with a low groan. She laughed at the way the bandits looked around frantically. She did the same with two others._

 _The remaining three came out from behind their respective trees and met in the middle. Standing back to back they had crude clubs and one had a wicked knife. The men shook in fear as a phantom song began to sound. They couldn't tell where it was coming from, but the words were sung with a playful melody and a dark tone. Then, after a moment there was nothing but silence._

 _A club came flying end over end from a random direction. It hit one man squarely in the forehead and knocked him unconscious. Another did the same to the man with a knife. The final man took of running, but the girl appeared in front of him. He stopped so quickly that he fell down. He tried to crawl away, but the girl stalked up to him carrying his companion's knife._

 _"Stop moving," She commanded and out of fear he did. A creepily cheerful smile appeared as she put her boot on his rib cage. "I need to find a man by the name of Myron Owings, he lives near here. You are going to take me to him."_

 _"Why?" he choked out._

 _"Because, I don't have a lot of magic, but I know how to rip out a heart, that's why," She said, lazily twirling the knife between her fingers._

 ** _How is it? If you liked it, if you want, follow, favorite, and/or review. They make my day. I really like writing Chessur. Think I'm going to keep writing it like this with a flashback at the end and the beginning._**


	4. Chapter 4

_Chessur followed the bandit to a small cottage in the woods on the edge of a stream. It had a very homey atmosphere, the type of place you'd want to raise a family._

 _Chessur's smile faltered as a rabbit scampered in front of the cottage. She blinked and for a second she saw a gray rabbit with expressive wild eyes, messy fur, and it a very twitchy demeanor. She blinked rapidly and when she looked back it was a regular brown rabbit. It looked at her for a second then ran back into depths of the forest._

 _She was suddenly aware of the bandit that was standing awkwardly behind her. She turned to him, "If I ever see you or your friends again I will rip your hearts out. Now, leave before I change my mind."_

 _He ran off stumbling over tree roots. She turned back to the cottage, and began to approach the door. She knocked on the door, her heart in her throat. Chessur had been many things up to that point. A prankster, a joker, a madwoman, a friend, a counsel, a chaotic good, a sister, and a survivor. Never, never a killer though. Her breath hitched in her throat as the door opened. The man was tall and blue-eyed with a kind smile._

 _As he opened his mouth to say something, she quickly reached into his chest. She gripped his heart from inside his chest. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. Tears welled up in both of their eyes. She felt so many emotions only some were her own._

 _"I'm sorry," She whispered as she crushed his heart inside his ribs. She retracted her arm and he fell the ground limp. That when Chessur saw her, a woman with brown hair sitting in the bed with a horrified expression._

 _"What did you do?" The woman screeched as she shot forward and kneeled next to him, "Myron? Myron, please wake up."_

 _Chessur stumbled backwards tears streaming down her face. It had been so easy, and given her an unexplainable rush. She began to laugh frantically and a large smile stretched across her face._

-coc-

Chessur sat next to Mulan talking about where Cora might be when Aurora started screaming. They both started running towards her. When they got there Emma was holding a small rectangle in front of her.

"Is this the boy from your dream?" Emma asked.

"Yes, that's Henry," Aurora said shakily.

Chessur's eyebrows shot up and she let out a low whistle. She remarked, "Never a dull moment."

"How is that possible? How did you dream of my son?" Emma asked.

"Maybe, it isn't a dream," Snow said, "That room... I've been there."

"What? When I told you about it you didn't say anything," Aurora exclaimed.

"You were scared, I didn't want to make it worse by saying it might be real," Snow amended.

"A room in a dream is real?" Mulan said in disbelief.

At the same time Chessur groaned, "This is the mushroom incident all over again."

Snow ignored Chessur and explained, "The sleeping curse, I've been through it, Aurora has been through it, and-"

"Henry went through it, because I wouldn't believe him," Emma whispered guiltily.

"Emma," Snow said softly.

"What else did you lie about?" Aurora demanded.

"I didn't, I didn't lie, I was protecting you," Snow tried to reason.

"Yeah, not lying just withholding the truth. If only you had been so good at that when you were a child," Chessur mocked, smiling at how Snow glared half-heartedly at her.

Emma turned to Aurora, "What did Henry say?"

"Nothing," Aurora faltered, "He just said his name."

"Emma it's going to be okay," Snow said determinedly.

"We are so far from okay," Emma retorted.

"We have a way home now."

"We have a compass, and Cora still has the wardrobe ashes," Emma said.

"Any attempts to steal from her would be suicide," Mulan added.

"For you," Chessur said under her breath.

"Not anymore," Snow said, "We can do this."

"How?" Mulan demanded.

"I don't know, but I know someone who does," Snow paused, "Rumpelstiltskin."

Realization dawned on Emma's and Chessur's face. Chessur said hesitantly, "I don't think this is a good idea."

"Henry," Emma breathed, "We can talk to him."

"Wait, what?" Aurora asked confused and fearfully.

"That's right, princess, you're going back to sleep," Emma commanded.

"Wait, one minute," Chessur yelled out tired of being ignored. They all turned on her in shock. "Do you not see how risky this is? Dealing with Rumple is a bad idea no matter the circumstances."

"What other ideas do you have?" Emma exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air.

"Send me to steal the ashes. The worst scenario I die and you can use this horrible idea as plan B. The best, I get the ashes and we get the hell out of here," Chessur tried to reason.

"What's to keep you from betraying us?" Mulan asked.

"The fact that I want to get the hell out of here as much as you do and you have the compass," Chessur said seriously though there was still a smirk on her lips.

"I don't like the idea of you going off on your own," Snow said.

"I agree," Mulan consented stoically.

Chessur groaned, "Fine, but don't tell Henry I'm with you. If that particular piece of information got to Rumple there is a good chance he'd deny our request."

They all raised their eyebrows at the girl, but didn't question it. They told Aurora what to say to Henry and she laid down to go to sleep. She tossed and turned when she did fall asleep, but no one woke her like before. Chessur was on edge watching Aurora with something that appeared to be concern.

"Should we wake her?" Chessur asked anxiously.

Snow answered first, "No, what if she hasn't talked to Henry yet?"

"What if she is traumatized for life, because of this fire room's obvious affect on her," Chessur snapped harshly.

"Is this about Rumpelstiltskin? You seemed very put off by the idea of helping him," Emma spoke with a suspicious tone.

"While I would rather avoid the imp, I'm not afraid of him like most. If it was necessary, I would go to him, what I'm put off by is the obvious amount of distress you are putting the princess through unnecessarily," Chessur ranted.

"Aren't you an assassin?" Emma asked unamused.

"Yes, but I never put anyone through unnecessary pain," Chessur snarled, "Torturing people is for the scared, it makes them feel powerful and in control. Some people think they need that, control."

"And you don't think you need control?"

Chessur said with a wicked grin, "Chaos is an old friend of mine."

Aurora woke up with a loud intake of breath. She was breathing heavily and Chessur surged forward with a water pouch. Emma watched as she gave the water to Aurora. Aurora took a long drink and tried to slow her breathing.

"Relax, dear, you're back in the Enchanted Forest with a soldier, a queen, a swan, and a cat," Chessur said jokingly, "A strange group we are, princess."

Aurora gave a weak laugh as she handed back the pouch.

"What did Henry say?" Snow demanded earning a pointed look from Chessur.

"I told him everything you told me to," Aurora paused still breathing faster than normal, "We're going to meet back in two hours."

"We should break camp and set up somewhere safer before then," Mulan said.

"You three do that, I'll look after the princess," Chessur said with a lazy grin.

Mulan looked hesitant, but they all agreed eventually. As they got to work, Chessur turned Aurora.

"You don't have to look after me, you're about ten years younger than me, and-" Aurora said.

"Cut the act," Chessur hissed cutting off the princess.

"What are you talking about?" Aurora asked furrowing her brow at the young girl.

"I can _feel_ the pain radiating off you," Chessur said lowly, so that no one besides Aurora heard. "I don't have a lot of magic. In fact, I only have three magical abilities and one of them is something called empathy. Do you know what empathy is?"

"No," Aurora admitted shaking her head.

"It means that sometimes if I focus, I can pick up little things off people like how they are feeling or their feelings towards certain things or people," Chessur explained, "And right, now the pain you're feeling is giving me a headache."

Aurora sighed and lifted up the fabric covering her arm. There was a rather large and fresh burn on the underside of her forearm. Aurora said reluctantly, "I didn't have this before I went to sleep."

Chessur looked at the princess with wide eyes, "This happened in there?"

"Yes, but you can't tell Mulan. She won't want me to go back," She implored, "I've spent so much time being rescued, I just want to help for once."

Chessur let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. A smirk tugged at her lips though as she said, "Forget curiosity, the soldier might kill the cat and no amount of satisfaction will bring it back."

"What does that mean?"

"The cat is not a rat, and will not tell the soldier that you are injured," She said with her signature grin.

"Thank you," Aurora said softly.

"Even I have some honor and morality," Chessur joked, "Very little, but I do have some."

Within fifteen minutes, the camp was packed up and they continued on their way. There was little chatter, besides Emma asking Chessur every few minutes what time it was. At little under an hour of walking Emma asked how much time was left again.

"Calm yourself woman," Chessur exclaimed, "I'm sure your son isn't in there."

"How can you know he isn't in there waiting?" Emma asked nervously.

"He can tell time can't he? It hasn't even been a full hour, and if you keep asking me what time it is. Aurora will have to tell him his mother was strangled by a cat," Chessur said incredulously. Emma's anxiety was starting to grate at Chessur's nerves. Chessur could ignore most of it, but Emma was producing so much.

"Okay, look there is some relatively safe high ground," Snow pointed out, "We'll set up camp there."

An hour or so later they had finally laid Aurora down to sleep. Mulan was fussing over her sleeping form. Snow and Emma stood off to the side a talked softly. Chessur could feel Emma's anxiety lessen slightly, then spike. They had all heard it, the loud snapping of a twig.

Chessur saw them first, many shambling forms coming towards them some with weapons. They got to camp quickly and while Mulan tried to shake Aurora awake the others were fighting the intruders. Emma and Snow had weapons though, Chessur did not.

Chessur grabbed one man by his hair and banged his head against another man's. They both fell, but slowly started to get up. She kicked one man in the chest solidly sending him reeling. Chessur smiled her Cheshire grin as she fought. This was the kind of fighting she was used to. The kind where there were no rules, just winners and losers. One man was on the receiving end of a roundhouse kick and another a knee to the stomach. She would've laughed if her attacks were doing some kind of damage. No, the intruders would just keep walking forward no matter what. Out of the corner of her eye, Chessur saw Snow shoot a man with two arrows, but he just kept coming.

"Chessur, Emma, we need to run for it," Snow said as she started the back up.

Chessur was going to ask about Mulan and Aurora, but soon noticed they were long gone. If she had to guess, Mulan ran away with Aurora, trying to keep Aurora safe.

"I'm right behind you," Chessur yelled as she slugged a man in the jaw. They nodded and took off running. They assumed Chessur was going to follow them, but she had lied. Chessur needed to check something.

Another intruder stumbled towards her and she let him. Instead of hitting or kicking him, she gripped him by the shoulder and plunged her hand into his chest. She reached for his heart, but couldn't find it. They didn't have hearts, this must be some of the people from the island whose heart she took for a rainy day. Chessur retracted her hand and shoved the shell of a human being away. She turned on her heel and ran off in the direction she saw Emma go in.

She broke through a line of trees and felt something graze her cheek. It stung badly, she turned on whomever attacked her. She put her hand against her cheek and growled, "Really, Snow? I thought we were on the same side?"

"I'm so sorry, Chessur," Snow said frantically.

Chessur made a dismissive gesture with her hand and looked over the two other women before looking away. Wait, what, two other women? Chessur did a double take and noted that it was just Snow, Emma, and Mulan.

"Where's Aurora?" Chessur asked slowly her voice low and threatening. She took in how all three women tensed and how Emma glanced at Mulan. " _Where's Aurora, soldier?_ "

Mulan cleared her throat, but fear was coming off her in waves, but not fear of Chessur. She said, "The bandits took her."

Chessur laughed bitterly, "Those weren't bandits, _soldier_." She spat out the word soldier like it was a curse. "Those were puppets."

"What do you mean?" Mulan asked nervously.

"They didn't have hearts," Chessur said with an amused grin, "They weren't doing that of there free will."

"How do you know they didn't have hearts?" Snow asked warily.

Chessur met Snow's eyes unwaveringly, "I checked."

Snow's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't say anything. Mulan said quietly, "Cora has Aurora."

"Yes, and who's fault is that?" Chessur mocked.

"It's not her fault," Emma defended.

"Oh, but it is, dear. She is the one who ran off, because she doesn't trust us enough to help her keep Aurora safe. Aurora is paying the price for her petty trust issues," Chessur's smile never slipped, but her eyes narrowed and she jabbed her finger in Mulan's direction. "So, tell me, _soldier_ , is she worth it?"

Emma opened her mouth, but Snow shook her head slightly. Snow didn't know where Chessur was going with this, but Mulan needed to answer.

"Worth what?" Mulan asked confused.

"It's obvious you think she is worth your life, but in the end that means nothing," Chessur said, "Is she worth the walls you have built to keep people at arm's length? Is she worth your pride? Is she worth the risk of trusting people?"

There was a long moment of silence where the cat and the soldier just glared at each other. Mulan let out a sigh and lowered her eyes, "Yes."

"Then let's go rescue her," Chessur said with an impossibly big grin, "That is what you heroes do, right?"

A black bird descended from the air and landed on Snow's shoulder. It let out loud caw after caw whilst flapping its wings. Snow held up her hand when Emma moved to shoo it away. After a moment the bird flew away.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Chessur asked bewildered.

"That was Cora, we have till sundown to exchange the compass or Aurora will die," Snow reported grimly.

Emma took the compass out of her pocket and looked at it.

"Give me the compass," Mulan demanded.

"Wait, give us a chance to consider this," Emma asked.

"Aurora's life is not worth the compass," Mulan insisted.

"We need a plan to get Aurora and keep the compass," Snow reasoned.

"How? When we no longer have the help of the Dark One," Mulan asked.

"Aurora isn't the only one whose been under the sleeping curse," Snow said slowly.

"You said that door was closed," Mulan reminded.

"Actually, that could work," Chessur interjected, "If we could put her in a state where her mind is entirely vulnerable and off its guard. She could get there with the help of some poppy power."

"I used the last of the powder on the giant," Mulan argued.

"Then make some more," Chessur said simply with a mischievous smile.

"The poppy is rare in this kingdom, but I know where we could find some," Mulan said hesitantly, "it's very far from here, though."

"Can we get there before sundown?" Snow asked.

Mulan sighed and began to lead them in the direction if where to find the poppies. It was a three hour hike. Chessur stayed in the back watching out for any more puppets. She stayed off to the side when they finally got the poppy and Mulan was crushing the seeds. Snow and Emma were having a very touching moment that even Chessur wouldn't feel right interrupting.

Mulan walked over to Snow with the new poppy dust and with a comforting smile blew it into her face. No one talked as they waited for Snow to wake up. Chessur tapped her foot anxiously and looked at her pocket watch willing time to go faster. After fifteen minutes, Chessur decided to take a small nap.

Chessur was awoken when a large amount of someone else's distress hit her like a ogre. She groaned quietly and clutched her head in pain.

"The compass is gone and so is Mulan," Emma said.

This woke Chessur immediately, she got up and looked around. Snow was awake, Mulan was gone, and Emma was panicking. In her sleep, she was more likely to pick up other people's emotions, but a lot of distress was coming off both women.

"Calm down, both of you," Chessur said, "You're giving me a headache."

"We have to get the compass back," Snow yelled as she started to track Mulan. The three ran through the forest with Snow in the lead as she knew the most about tracking. As Mulan came into sight Chessur disappeared. Snow shot off an arrow that went past Mulan and into a nearby tree. "That was warning shot, the next one won't miss."

Mulan stopped and put her hands up, "How'd you find me?"

"I know a thing or two about tracking."

"All we want is the compass," Emma said.

"Very well," Mulan said, but instead of handing over the compass she moved to draw her sword.

Chessur in her invisible state tackled her to the ground. She put her forearm against her throat and pinned Mulan's arms with her knees. As a threat, she held her free hand over where Mulan's heart would be. Everyone looked thoroughly confused, so with a dark chuckle Chessur slowly became visible again.

"Miss me, _soldier_?" Chessur mocked, "You've been a bad soldier lately haven't you?"

"Give us the compass," Snow demanded.

"And throw away Aurora's life?" Mulan challenged.

"We know how to defeat Cora now," Chessur informed, "We just need to go to-"

"Another journey, just as I predicted," Mulan snapped.

"We are not making that trade," Chessur growled.

"Then you're going to have to rip my heart out," Mulan said defiantly.

"Have it your way," Chessur snarled, "You're not my first. I'm sorry, I'll make it quick."

"Stop," Someone shouted. They all looked up shocked to see Aurora.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but how, the hell, are you here?" Emma asked baffled.

"Let Mulan go," Aurora ordered.

Chessur did just that to amazed by the sudden appearance of Aurora. A wicked grin stretched across her face. Chessur asked, "How did you escape?"

"It was Hook, he let me escape," She answered.

"Why?" Emma asked.

"You," Aurora said, "He wanted to show you that you should have trusted him. That the two of you could have gone up against Cora together. That without him you now have to go against her alone. That he just wanted to help. I think he may care for you."

That sounded like some top-notch bullshit to Chessur, but wasn't about to say anything, yet. They started there way towards their next stop; Rumpelstiltskin's cell.

-coc-

 _"How'd it feel, dearie, taking your first heart?" Rumpelstiltskin asked as he appeared next to the crying and laughing girl._

 _"It felt like..." she trailed off._

 _"Power? Control? Strength?" He supplied curious. This girl had a lot of potential for his purposes. If he could set her on the path to darkness like he did Regina then he'd have another powerful puppet to manipulate. It would be like having two queens in chess._

 _"Chaos," She said hesitantly before exploding into giggles._

 _"Chaos?" He questioned, not expecting that answer._

 _"Yes, when I gripped his heart. I could feel everything he did. All the love, the hate, and everything in between," She said with a cheerful laugh._

 _He grimaced, this could be a problem. He spoke, "You've kept up your end of the deal, now I shall take you to Alice."_

 _"No," She said with a big smile._

 _"No?"_

 _"I've decided to postpone receiving my reward, I want to do this more," She said simply as if they were talking about the weather._

 _"Killing?"_

 _"I suppose, if that means I can touch more hearts and create more chaos."_

 _Rumpelstiltskin smiled. This girl was nothing like Regina, she was already filled with madness. It was quite interesting the way the girl smiled, laughed, and giggled instead of showing other emotions. This girl wanted the madness and the chaos. He said, "I think that can be arranged, dearie."_

 ** _What do you think? I like that you got to see a small bit of humanity in Chessur. Anyways if you liked this go ahead and follow, favorite, and/or review. They really do make my day. Thank you to those who have done one of those three things._**


	5. Chapter 5

_Jefferson walked down a path that led towards the White Queen's signature hat balanced jauntily on his dark brown hair. The White Queen was one of his old friends from Wonderland. Every now and then he'd leave his daughter with his wife and visit Wonderland._

 _The familiar weight of his hat was suddenly missing. He looked around and spotted his hat floating in the air. If this wasn't Wonderland he'd be surprised. He reached to grab his hat, but it was yanked just out of his reach._

 _"Are you the Hatter?" asked a child's voice from no where, "The Mad Hatter?" There was a phantom giggle and his hat jerked even farther out of his reach._

 _"Give me my hat," Jefferson demanded._

 _"Hatter? What's the matter? Cat got your hat?" The phantom voice rhymed playfully._

 _"So, you're a cat, eh?" Jefferson asked, not missing a beat or questioning it._

 _"In my reality," The voice said simply with a giggle. "Cheshire cat," It added quietly._

 _"Do you mind showing yourself, Cheshire Cat," he said._

 _"Are you the Hatter?" The voice repeated._

 _"Yes, those who live here call me The Mad Hatter," Jefferson said grudgingly, "Though my name is Jefferson."_

 _A girl around five years old appeared to his left sitting in a tree with his hat on her purple hair. The hat kept falling down in front of her eyes, so she had to keep pushing it up. Her small form was covered in tattered old clothes with some charring. Her eyes danced with a madness that was different and the same as the madness in the eyes of other Wonderland residents. Her smile had a wild and playful edge to it, and her dimples gave it a hint of innocence. "Those who live here call me, The Cheshire Cat," She giggled, "My name is Ashley Chessur, I prefer Chessur though."_

-coc-

"So this is the cell that held, Rumple dear?" Chessur said amused with a large grin. She was loving this more than she liked to admit. To think this is the room they locked up The Dark One in.

"Yes, and can you stop calling everyone dear," Emma hissed, "You sound like Rumpelstiltskin when you do that."

Chessur smirked, "It's a habit, and it would make sense I sound like Rumple when I say that. I'm pretty sure that's where I picked up that particular habit, _dear_."

"Less talking more, looking for the squid ink," Snow said to the two girls. Chessur rolled her eyes and Emma huffed at being told what to do.

"Did he have any cell mates that could've taken it," Mulan asked as she searched.

"I doubt that," Chessur remarked, "Who would be stupid enough to give 'Stiltskin a cell mate? The man can only stand two, maybe three, people total."

"She's not wrong, we kept him isolated from people, because he was too dangerous," Snow said absentmindedly as she ran her hand along the wall.

"How did he keep from going crazy?" Emma asked quietly. Chessur chuckled, she knew Rumple was crazy long before he came here.

"He didn't," Aurora said as she pulled a rolled up piece of parchment from a hole in the wall. "I think this is for you," She said to Emma after she unrolled the parchment.

Aurora handed the parchment to Emma who looked at it with wide eyes. Chessur looked it over from Emma's side after feeling a spike in her emotions. Emma was written repeatedly over the length of the parchment in Rumple's neat cursive. This was a bit strange even for him. Why would the name of the savior be so important? Did it have something to do with her being the savior or her name specifically?

Chessur hummed thoughtfully as she bit her lip, her eyebrow twitched in amusement of the whole thing. Chessur- while she'd never admit it- was glad she had stuck with these women and not Cora. They were much more... chaotic and interesting.

Cora had to have control, she was much like Rumple and her daughter in that sense. They always acted like they were playing chess, moving pieces to set up plans they would put into play ten moves later.

Rumple had tried to imbue that way of thinking into Chessur. Though it hadn't stuck, Chessur ran on instinct and emotion rather than strategy. Control was hard to maintain, so it was simpler- and more effective in her case- to instead maintain madness. One of the many reasons that Rumple liked to avoid her. The method to Chessur's madness was written in a language that only Chessur could understand. It made her an unpredictable variable, and Rumple didn't like regular variables much less unpredictable grinned wickedly at the thought of how much Rumple dislikes her.

"What does this even mean?" Emma asked quietly as she scanned over the parchment again.

"That he was obsessed with you," Chessur said absentmindedly as she searched the cell with the others.

"You were the key to breaking the curse, Emma," Snow added as she climbed down from one of the walls after thoroughly searching it.

"Are you sure there is squid ink in this cell?" Aurora asked impatiently as she searched.

"There is David told me in the Netherworld," Snow insisted as they continued to search.

"Maybe something got lost in translation," Aurora said tiredly.

Mulan stuck her hand in a hole in one of the walls, "No there wasn't." Mulan pulled out a small jar from the hole. Upon closer inspection there was no ink left in the jar. "There was squid ink in here."

"The slimey foot-licking imp," Chessur yelled, "I told you we couldn't trust that bloody git, but _no_ you never listen to The Cheshire Cat."

Out of frustration, Aurora took a rock and threw it out of the cell. That's when Chessur felt a familiar ripple in her head. The jar hit the lever with enough force move it, causing the cell to close. Chessur spun around to see Cora and Killian outside the cell. Cora held a smug look on her face, while Hook stayed in the back looking bored.

"Aurora, what are you doing?" Emma cried out, not seeing the two.

"Helping me," Cora said smugly as she walked closer to the cell. With a flick of her hand, she used magic to take the compass from Emma.

"How could you," Snow exclaimed.

"She was only doing what she was told, right, Cora," Chessur growled as a predatory smile graced her lips, "I assume you have her heart in that fine cloak of yours, Cora?"

"Such a clever girl," Cora chuckled, "I had such high hopes for you."

"You and everyone else, but doing what people want of me has never been my style. Unlike you, always one to please weren't you," Chessur laughed darkly, "The evil queen had a mother. How she wished for another. She was a controlling bitch. And thanks to an imp, a witch. Spun straw into gold. Instead of finding love like she was told. With being a miller's daughter, she was far from content. And now her heart too far gone to repent."

Chessur smiled even wider at the way Cora glared at her. Chessur's eyes danced with the devil. A certain madness took over her entire demeanor. She leaned against the bars, sticking her head out as far as it would go. Chessur sang with a special malice and bitterness just for Cora, " _Here comes the Queen. The Queen of Hearts. Watch how the crowd parts. Watch how the children cry. Watch how her people how-"_

Cora flicked her hand and with magic sent Chessur flying backwards in the cell. The young girl hit her head solidly against the rock wall of the cell. Her head was spinning and her ears ringing. She started to chuckle from her place on the ground when she touched the back of her head and felt warm sticky blood. She watched as Cora talked to Emma menacingly. How Hook got up in her face snarling and pulling out a dead magic bean. Hook glanced at Chessur almost fearfully as she started to laugh louder and darker. The women she was trapped with didn't approach her as she stood up.

Her head pounding she called out as Cora and Hook walked away, "Be careful, I wouldn't want anything to kill you before I do." Her laughter echoed throughout the entire room playful and malicious like a cat joking with a mouse before it ate it.

After Cora and Hook left, Emma started banging against the bars if the cell. The others sat on the ground watching Emma whack at the metal bars with her sword.

"Would you stop that it's not going to break," Chessur snapped, "This cell was enchanted to hold Rumpelstiltskin."

With a defeated sigh, Emma sat down between Chessur and Aurora. Aurora said dejectedly, "This is all my fault."

"No, Cora only took your heart, because I failed to protect you," Mulan insisted.

"No, I'm afraid it's my fault," Emma breathed, "I'm the savior, I haven't been doing much saving."

"That's just a title," Chessur interjected, "It doesn't mean anything."

"Maybe to you," Emma snapped, "But I'm supposed to be saving people."

"Do you know what they used to call me?" Chessur scoffed. "I wasn't just The Cheshire Cat, I had many names none as nice as Savior. Devil's House Cat. Smiling Death. Phantom. Spirit of Madness. The Dark Assassin. Skeleton Child. The Demon of Wonderland was one of my personal favourites."

There was a few moments of silence between all of them. Snow moved to sit between Chessur and Emma. She was silent for a second before saying, "We're going to win this fight, you know. Good always defeats evil."

"You sound like Henry," Emma said quietly, not looking at Snow.

"Well, optimism must run in the family," Snow said.

"I think it skipped a generation," Emma replied.

"You should know better than anybody, you broke the curse."

"Yes, but what have I done since then?" Emma asked with a hint sadness, "I got us stranded over here, burned down the wardrobe, let Cora get the ashes, and the Compass. The only reason I broke the curse is that I did exactly what Rumpelstiltskin wanted."

"What are you talking about?"

"Everything that I did was because he had it all planned out before I was even born. I'm not powerful, I'm not a saviour. I'm a name on a piece of paper, I'm a pawn. That's exactly why we're here and Cora's on her way to Storybrooke," Emma finished with a dejected tone.

There was a beat of silence that was broken by Chessur's childish all looked at her with amused expressions. She continued to giggle as she spoke, "I figured it out. Why he was so obsessed with your name. The clever foot-licker..."

When she didn't explain, Snow sighed, "Care to explain, Chessur?"

"Yes," She said eagerly as she jumped to her feet and began to pace, "The curse was made with the only way for it to be broken is through-"

"A kid born of true love, we know, the savior also known as me," Emma said.

"Exactly, but old Rumple dear had a thing for contracts as we all know, too well. Especially when they benefited him. Now there was no way he would go unaffected by the curse, he designed it so that only the caster could determine if they kept their memories. The curse was like a contract, he was bound to it. Now, he couldn't be expected to manipulate Emma the way he has without being at his full manipulative power. So, what did he need?"

After a second, Aurora said, "A loophole."

Chessur jumped up and down a clapped her hands, "Heartless, but not brainless, well done, princess."

"So, Emma's name was his loophole?" Snow asked slowly. She would be lying if she said she wasn't amused by Chessur's antics.

"Exactly," Chessur said as she began to pace again, "When he heard Emma's name it must have awoken his memories somehow. Otherwise how would he been able to manipulate Emma the way he has. It's difficult to get what you want if you can't remember what it is." Chessur jumped up and down a few times before exclaiming, "I'm a bloody genius."

The older women chuckled at the young girl. Emma said with a smirk, "Okay, _genius,_ how do we get out of here?"

Chessur grinned wickedly, "All in due time, Emma dear."

Emma shook her head in slight amusement as Chessur continued to pace. Chessur mumbled to herself as she thought about how to get out of here. She stopped suddenly with a very confused expression.

"What is it?" Snow asked.

"Snow dear, you said Rumple was kept alone from everyone, I assume that means no letters either," Chessur said thoughtfully as her eyebrow twitched.

"No," Snow informed.

"And he wasn't allowed any form of entertainment I assume."

"No."

"And the only objects in his cell we found in his cell was the _empty_ jar of squid ink and a piece of parchment with writing on it?"

A look of realisation brightened Snow's face. She exclaimed, "Chessur, you're a genius. We're going to get out of here."

"How," Emma asked from the floor.

"When I was younger, I used to watch Cora practice magic," Snow explained as she approached the cell bars with the parchment, "She had a spell book."

"So?" Emma asked more confused than ever.

"The spells were _in_ the book," Snow said as she held the parchment, names side facing the ceiling, in front of her mouth.

"Isn't that the point of a spell book?"

Snow began to blow, the words began to come off the page in a black cloud. Aurora and Mulan stood up excitedly. Emma gasped as she watched Snow blow the black cloud towards the bars. Chessur threw back her head and laughed like a maniac. They all watched as the squid ink dissolved the bars.

"I told you," Snow said fondly to her daughter, "Good always wins."

"Snow said it. I've said it before, but I'll say it again," Chessur exclaimed excitedly, " _I'm a bloody genius."_

As they began to exit the cell Aurora exclaimed, "Wait, I can't be trusted while Cora has my heart. You should tie me up."

"We aren't leaving you behind," Mulan said stubbornly.

"You have to, Cora still has my heart," Aurora insisted. She met Mulan's eyes stubbornly. Mulan looked between Snow and Aurora for a few seconds.

"Fine," Mulan sighed as she pulled out some rope, "But I will get your heart back for you."

Aurora was tied to one of the still intact bars. Snow and Emma started to exit after they exchanged good lucks with Aurora. Chessur stayed back a second. She looked at the princess as she bit her lip.

"You're going to be fine, Aurora dear, the soldier is too stubborn to let Cora keep your heart," Chessur smirked when she heard Mulan scoff as she followed Emma and Snow.

Aurora chuckled, "Just make sure she survives getting my heart back."

"I swear on my very little honor," Chessur said as she put her hand over her heart.

"You should go, don't want to keep them waiting," Aurora said with small smile.

"Goodbye, Aurora dear, this won't be the last time we see each other," Chessur said as she started to walk away.

"How do you know?"

"I don't know, I _feel_." Chessur answered with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

They ran as fast as they could with Snow in the lead. When they got there they could see Cora and Hook about to jump into the portal. Snow notched an arrow, aimed, and sent it flying. The arrow knocked the compass out of their hands. They both looked up startled at the arrival of the group.

"Miss us, dears?" Chessur asked sarcastically with a big grin.

"Emma get the compass," Snow ordered, "We'll take care of Cora."

With that they were off, Emma went after Hook and the other's fought Cora. Mulan deflected Cora's fire balls with her sword. Snow acted as a sniper shooting at Cora trying to get her off guard. Emma locked in a sword fight with Hook. Chessur, of course, dodged Cora's fire balls as she tried to get Cora off her game by annoying her.

" _Here comes the Queen. The Queen of Hearts. Watch how the crowd parts. Watch how the children cry. Watch how her people die. Watch how the villages burn. Watch how their stomachs churn. Here comes the Queen,"_ Chessur sang as she jumped to the side to avoid another fire ball, laughing at the way Cora's jaw clenched slightly.

Cora suddenly disappeared after throwing the package that held Aurora's heart. It flew through the air over the portal. Chessur started to run forward to get to the heart. She wouldn't make it though. Hook bent backwards catching it on his hook. He threw the parcel to Mulan who suddenly looked very conflicted.

"Go," Snow yelled looking around for Cora.

"But-" Mulan started.

"Aurora needs her heart," Snow interrupted.

"Here," Mulan handed her sword to Snow, "It deflects her magic." Mulan took off to go give Aurora her heart back.

Chessur looked around just in time to watch Hook get knocked out by Emma. Something that pleased Chessur immensely. There was a low whistle behind them. The three remaining looked and there stood Cora. Emma charged at Cora with her sword only for Cora to poof away.

"Run for it," Chessur yelled as all three of them took off towards the portal. Cora appeared in front of them before they could make it. She sent them flying back with her magic.

She approached the three. When Chessur and Emma tried to get up they were forced back down by magic. Cora allowed Snow to stand up in front of her.

"Why do you want to go to Storybrooke?" Snow asked.

"To see my daughter, and now I'm going to bring her the one thing she always wanted," Cora paused then with a soft smile added, "Your heart. Goodbye Snow."

Emma pushed Snow out of the way causing Cora's hand to go inside her chest.

"Oh, you foolish girl," Cora exclaimed, "Don't you know love is weakness."

Cora tried to pull out Emma's heart, but it wouldn't budge. Chessur let out a weak chuckle from the ground which turned into full on laughter after Emma said, "No, it's strength."

A burst of magical energy erupted from Emma, knocking Cora back. Snow and Emma hugged as Chessur shambled over to Cora's form. Her signature Cheshire grin was in place. Her eyes alight with playful malice. Voice dripping with sarcasm, She mocked, " _You foolish woman,_ _don't you know_ everything is weakness if you aren't smart about it including power."

She returned to the pair of women with a smile on her face. She said rubbing her hands together, "Now, let's go to Storeybrooke, so Emma can see her son, Snow can have a tearful reunion with Charming, and I can ruin Rumple's day with my mere presence."

The two women nodded and they all approached the portal. Gripping the compass, together they jumped into the portal. It was strange sensation, like being pulled apart, twisted, and put together all at the same time. Then in the blink of an eye, it was over and the three were at the bottom of a well.

Chessur couldn't help herself, "Well, well, well, look where we are? I assume this is part of Storeybrooke?"

Emma nodded. Together they began to climb up the side of the well. Emma went up first, then Snow, and finally Chessur. Thankfully, it wasn't an exceptionally deep well. It wasn't long before Emma dragged herself over the side followed by Snow.

"Henry," Emma exclaimed after she crawled out of the well. They hugged happy to see each other again. Chessur didn't know this was happening as she dragged herself out of the well.

"Thanks for the help, really, you lot are _real_ helpful," Chessur spat sarcastically. Everyone's eyes drew to her except for Emma's who was too focused on her son.

"Chessur?" Rumpelstiltskin growled the question that he already knew the answer to. The hair and the Cheshire grin were a dead giveaway.

"Hello, Rumple dear, did you miss me?" She said with a devious smile. "The air here feels strange," She added thoughtfully.

"What are you doing here?" He snarled.

"Always so hostile, if you must know I helped Emma and Snow get here," Chessur punctuated that statement with a giggle. Without another word, Rumple stalked off walking quickly. This was not good for him, not good at all.

A tall woman ran up to Snow and hugged her. Chessur was content to sit back and watch all the happy reunions with a fond smile. People were the worst, but sometimes they could also be the best. Snow ran off with the tall woman leading her to Charming to give him true love's kiss. She watched on as Emma talked to Regina only slightly awkwardly. It surprised Chessur when Emma turned around and smiled at her.

"Chessur, come over here, I want you to meet Henry and Regina," Emma said with a fond smile.

Chessur's jaw dropped for a moment, but she quickly recovered. She strode over to the group with a large playful smile. Henry and Regina looked at her with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"The name is Chessur, but many call me The Cheshire Cat," She introduced herself. "You must be the Henry I've heard so much about."

"What have you heard?" Henry asked with raised eyebrows.

"No, specifics, but you must be great for how much your mother cares for you. I mean she wouldn't shut up about how worried she was for you, I nearly strangled her," Chessur said with a good natured laugh. Chessur always loved children even though she was technically one herself.

"She was?" Henry asked beaming at his slightly blushing blonde mother.

"Yes," She confirmed. Chessur turned to the dark-haired woman with an even larger smile, "And you must be the Great Queen Regina," Chessur bowed, "It is truly an honor to meet you."

Regina raised her eyebrows at the young girl who was currently sporting a giant grin. The stories of The Cheshire Cat she had heard in the Enchanted Forest didn't match this girl. She looked at Emma who looked at the young girl in amusement. There was also the way that the girl had called Regina the Great Queen instead of Evil Queen. Regina offered a smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you, but there is no need for bowing this isn't the Enchanted Forest. I'm not a queen here."

"Once a queen, always a queen," Chessur said absentmindedly. Chessur put her hands on the top of her head and took in a deep breath. She tried to get a feel for the town's energy. She suddenly stiffened and her eyes turned dark. She quickly covered it up though for these people didn't need to know what had just happened. What she had just discovered.

-coc-

 _"Where are your parents, Chessur?" Jefferson asked the strange girl._

 _"My family is nothing, but memories now," She said the tone of sadness well hidden, but Jefferson heard it._

 _He felt sorry for the girl. She was obviously underfed and maybe even homeless. Her clothes were old and dirty, close to falling apart. She was the same age as his daughter about if he had to guess. Her hair was ratty and her face as dirty as her clothes._

 _"I'll make you a deal," He said, "You give my hat, and I'll take you to a tea party with the White Queen and all her friends."_

 _Her eyes widened at the offer, and she quickly threw his hat down to him, before climbing down from the tree. He smiled at her and she gave him her giant white smile back. He reached for her hand and she let him take it. She swung their hands back and forth as they walked down the road._

 _"You know, Chessur, I think you and I are going to be friends," Jefferson said softly to the girl who only smiled wider if possible, "Now let's go faster there are some people I want you to meet."_

 ** _What did you think? We have finally arrived in Storeybrooke! Chessur is going to be doing her own stuff besides what happens in the show. If you liked this go ahead, follow, favorite, and/or review. They make my day, really, I mean it_**


	6. Chapter 6

_Jefferson walked through the halls of the White Queen's palace confidently, only slowed by the little girl who's hand he was holding. She kept stopping and investigating anything that piqued her curiosity. Though she never let go of his hand, so every time she diverted from their course. He was dragged along. They were surely going to be late for tea, and the White Rabbit would never let him forget it._

 _"Haven't you ever heard that curiosity killed the cat?" He asked playfully as he was dragged across the hall to look at a suit of armour._

 _The girl giggled, "Yes, Jefferson Hatter, but satisfaction brought it back."_

 _His eyebrows shot up at the name she had called him. He brushed off his initial surprise eventually. He insisted, "We are going to be late for tea."_

 _She huffed, "Fine." She gave the suit of armour a lingering look as Jefferson lead her down the hall. She looked at all the artwork and decorations in the hall with a mix of awe and longing. They came to a large door with two guards in front of it. The girl tensed and hid behind Jefferson. Jefferson smiled at the guards with a tip of his hat, before they opened the doors. He strode in with his head high, and the girl was still partially hidden behind him._

-coc-

Chessur walked into Granny's late for the party. She had done this on purpose hoping to avoid as much small talk as possible. Her scheme appeared to have worked. No one noticed her except for Regina who was sitting alone in a booth.

Chessur was looking much better than when she had left the Enchanted Forest. Her- though still hung in wild curls- could no longer be described as dirty or ratty. She wore black skinny jeans and combat boots. A plain purple t-shirt could be seen under her open silver button up jacket. Now, that her face was thoroughly clean. You could make out a light dusting of freckles on her nose and a small scar on her left temple.

Her eyes scanned the diner once more before landing on the queen once more. A small smile appeared on her lips as she approached the booth. She slid in without a word as Regina eyed her warily. They settled into a semi-comfortable silence as they both looked around the room observing the other guests.

"So, who invited you here," Regina asked politely with a forced smile.

"Mary Margaret, some crap about getting familiar with some of the residents," Chessur said as she shifted her attention to the queen, "You?"

"Emma," Regina said simply.

"What an odd pair we are, sitting in this booth trying to get through the a night with supposed heroes when we are supposed villains," Chessur said with her Cheshire grin. "I think, Snow dear, wants to keep an eye on me."

Regina chuckled slightly at the girl, "What do you mean supposed? They are the heroes and we were the villains."

"I don't believe in heroes and villains. Saviors. Bad guys. Civilians. It means nothing," Chessur said ruefully as she looked around the room once more. Her smile no longer reached her eyes.

Regina studied the young girl, again. Besides the obvious madness and poor morals, there didn't seem to be much wrong with the girl. It was hard to look at the girl and remember she was an assassin. An assassin with twenty seven confirmed kills and suspected of many more. She wasn't wrong when she said Snow was keeping an eye on her. Everyone was, many wanted her locked up, but Snow and Emma had argued. Saying that she was just a child and had helped them immensely return to Storeybrooke.

"Is that what you told yourself after you killed people?" Regina snapped coldly before she could stop herself. Regina regretted snapping at the girl immediately, Regina was trying to be a better person.

Chessur laughed and smiled even wider, "Feisty, I like that, and here I was preparing myself for you being boring."

Regina's eyebrows shot up and her lips formed a small smirk, "You thought I was going to be boring?"

"You have to understand, I've met both you're mother and Rumple- your teacher- both boring. I made what I thought a safe assumption," Chessur explained with a large mischievous smile.

"You think my mother and Rumpelstiltskin are boring?"

"Yes, very much, not a single chaotic bone in their bodies. With little willingness to adapt in anyway, they both need to live by rules, their own rules, but rules nonetheless," Chessur leaned back in the booth stretching her arms and legs. She smirked at the raised eyebrow Regina was giving her.

"I don't like chaos," Regina said firmly.

"I figured that," Chessur said with a dismissive gesture. "What makes you different is you are willing to adapt."

Regina laughed genuinely, "And how do you know so much about me?"

"I don't know, I _feel_ ," Chessur corrected with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

"I'll bite," Regina said as she leaned forwards, "What do you _feel_."

A large smile grew on her lips as she looked around the room once more. She locked eyes with Regina and answered, "I can feel your motherly love and longing for Henry. You want him to be proud of you and to want you. You have mixed emotions about most of the people here. You are sad they won't except you, but at the same time you feel resentment towards them for the same reason."

Regina shifted uncomfortably as she tried desperately to keep a straight face. She said plainly, "Even if that were true, how do you feel that?"

"It's one of the main reasons, Rumple dear, avoids me. I have a special magical ability called empathy, I can feel what others are feeling. Though here it's weaker for some reason, so I have to focus a lot more. The only reason I can read you is because you stick out among all this joy," Chessur explained casually with a smile.

"Is that why you came over her," Regina asked amused, "You thought I felt sad?"

"Actually, no, though it did give me more of a reason," Chessur replied.

"Then why? What do you want Cheshire Cat?"

Chessur locked eyes with Regina once more. The older woman was startled to see a lot of raw emotion in Chessur's eyes. The girl's lips twitched slightly like she was having trouble keeping her smile on her face. Regina couldn't decipher what the emotion she was seeing was, but it was like a mixture of madness, desperation, defiance, anger, and hope.

"When Rumpelstiltskin... took me in," Chessur started her voice low, never breaking eye contact, "It was because he saw some kind of potential in me. He, he wanted to set me on the path of darkness... like he did with you."

Regina nodded stiffly, "He wanted to turn you into one of his pawns."

"He wanted to turn me into you," Chessur corrected, "He was playing chess, and he wanted to have a knight on the board. He thought my madness was something he could use to manipulate me, so he could control me."

"Obviously, he was wrong," Regina said firmly.

"Yes, but he was right about one thing."

"And what's that?" Regina asked leaning on the table that separated them.

Chessur chuckled ruefully as she slid out of the booth, "That is a conversation for another time, I bid you farewell, your majesty."

"I told you I'm not a queen here," Regina said to Chessur's retreating form.

"And I told you, once a queen always a queen," Chessur replied with an amused tone as she opened the door. She walked outside with her hands buried deep in her pockets. She threw her head back and looked at the sky as she walked towards the woods.

"I just needed to see her reaction," Chessur chuckled to herself, "The queen probably doesn't know what to make of me. I'm going to try to change, try to free myself."

Chessur sighed quietly as the woods came into view. She would never be able to sleep soundly in a house. She had turned down Snow and Granny's offers of temporary free housing. She had told them both she was staying with other. Chessur pondered how long before that little lie created a bit of chaos. Snow would probably ask Granny how Chessur was doing, and chaos would take place. A smile stretched across her face at the thought.

She walked into the woods humming her long forgotten tune. She walked perhaps half a mile, before finding a tree that had a high branch that looked relatively comfortable. She scrambled up the tree with the skill of an acrobat. When she reached the relatively comfortable branch she sat down.

Chessur took a deep breath of the air. Storeybrooke was definitely interesting to Chessur. This world wasn't supposed to have magic, but Storeybrooke did. Chessur thought that perhaps this world wasn't supposed to have magic was what was affecting her empathy. She could still vanish, and though she hadn't tried she was fairly certain she could still rip out a heart. There was something about Storeybrooke though that was setting off alarms in Chessur's head. The voice in her head told her exactly what it was that was setting her off, but she refused to believe her instincts on this one. It was too perfect. She would have to go see someone in the morning.

She leaned against the tree trunk and closed her eyes. She relaxed and drifted off to the sounds of nature that was so different from Wonderland. The pocket watch dug into her from its place in her back pocket, but she didn't move it.

She woke up at first light. The sun just peaking up from the horizon. It rose slowly with her, and it watched her from the sky. Chessur rubbed her eyes with a yawn.

"I like you better when I can't see you and you can't wake me up," Chessur sighed to the sun. Chessur would've sworn that the sun got brighter. "Whatever, I have business to attend to anyways."

Chessur climbed down the tree slowly, not really in the mood to hurry. By her guess, she had plenty of time to get to her destination. Today was going to be chaotic that was for sure, so why not take this time to relax a little. She strolled through the woods grazing her hand across rough bark. She took in the scent of morning dew and dirt. The sounds of birds singing and squirrels going from tree to tree. The cool morning air held an almost metallic taste . She was so lost in the sensation of being in the woods she hadn't noticed she had arrived at her destination.

She placed a Cheshire grin on her lips that looked predatory. Her eyes gleamed with madness in the morning sunlight. She licked her lips as she looked over the rather large mansion in the middle of the woods.

"The direct approach, I believe, will work just fine," She snarled to herself as she approached the house. She slowly cracked her knuckles as she got walked around to the front of the door. When she noticed the lock all she did was chuckle as she slipped a lock picking kit out of her pocket. She had acquired it in the Enchanted Forest, while the locks here were probably different they probably ran on the same principle. She set to work unlocking it in less than five minutes.

She sauntered through the now unlocked door. The room she entered was obviously the living room. It was finely decorated and had several chairs scattered around. She took a seat in the most comfortable looking one and propped her feet up on another chair's back. She pulled out the pocket watch as she glanced at the stairs. Six thirty, Chessur pondered how long she would have to wait.

The answer was not very long. Chessur heard footsteps start to come from the stairs. Chessur's smile was a mixture of smugness, malice, and madness.

Chessur's jaw dropped when a girl around her age appeared into view. The girl glanced at her then looked away then looked back with her own jaw hanging open. The two girls stared at each other for a minute. Almost black eyes were stuck to Chessur's titanium eyes neither looking away for what felt like ages. The girl's eyes flickered for half a second to the door Chessur had left ajar.

"Papa," The girl yelled frantically, fear lacing her voice. Chessur schooled her features back into her smug smile.

"Grace?" yelled back a masculine voice from the second floor. Heavy footsteps from the stairs were heard and that's when he appeared. Jefferson's sole attention was on the girl, so he didn't notice Chessur.

"Chessur," Chessur drawled darkly. She saw him freeze for a moment and it brought her immense joy. He turned his head slowly to Chessur. His eyes were wide and his mouth slightly agape. "Did you miss me, _Jefferson Hatter_?"

"Chessur," He whispered tentatively. His entire body was tense and he kept blinking like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Yes, we established that," Chessur said with a dismissive gesture and a cruel smirk. "How have you been, Hatter? Is this your daughter? Your saving Grace?" She laughed darkly as she stood up.

"Papa?" Grace questioned quietly.

Jefferson leaned down and whispered something to his daughter that Chessur couldn't catch. Grace nodded and walked out of the room without looking at Chessur. Chessur's eyebrow twitched as she watched the dark blonde leave the room.

"What are you doing here, Chessur?" Jefferson asked slowly. He seemed very nervous for someone much bigger and older than herself.

"Can't I swing by and see my dear brother," Chessur spat bitterly, "Though to be fair, you were never my blood brother."

"I'm s-"

"Don't you dare apologize!" Chessur snapped ferociously. There was something wild and raw about her eyes that unsettled Jefferson. She looked like a caged animal and The Cheshire Cat was _never_ caged, nor was she desperate. "You have nothing to apologize for, because you had a damn good reason didn't you?"

"Yes," Jefferson managed to choke out, "You never answered my question."

"How is old is she?" Chessur asked completely ignoring the question.

"You and her should be the same age," Jefferson answered smoothly as he finally managed to get control over himself now that some of the shock had been brushed off.

"I'm here to talk about something rather unsettling," Chessur purred as she walked back over to sit in an armchair.

Jefferson remained standing, "If you find it so unsettling, why not talk to the Sheriff or the Mayor?"

"Because I want to talk to you," Chessur answered cryptically. She smiled in a predatory way that made shivers run down his spine. "It's been a long time, Jeffy, I think it's obvious some things have changed, but you were still my first choice to talk to."

"You're right a lot has changed, you became a killer," Jefferson countered defiantly.

Her eyes darkened at the comment and replied darkly, "I did what I needed to do at the time, we all regret things you should know." She smirked at the way his newfound confidence faltered at her comment. The Mad Hatter started to laugh. Her eyebrow twitched as it did when she was amused. "What's so funny? Did the Sheriff finally show up? Took her long enough."

It was Chessur's turn to laugh at the way Jefferson's smile turned into a confused frown.

"You're under arrest, Chessur," Emma said from the doorway with a hand on her hip. Grace came back into the room to stand besides her father. Chessur strutted over to Emma and put her hands out waiting for the restraints. Emma eyed her warily, before clicking the handcuffs onto the young girl's wrist. Emma read Chessur her rights and asked Jefferson and his daughter to meet her at the station.

"Why'd you do it?" Emma asked from the driver's seat.

Chessur chuckled from the backseat, "Because, I needed to see him scared. It's petty, but it was my revenge. It's better than the other option that I entertained years ago."

Emma eyed her warily in the rear view mirror, "I don't understand you. One second you're helping us and then you get here just to get yourself arrested. You didn't even break anything pretty shitty revenge if this was what that was."

Chessur laughed, "Don't try to figure me out, Emma dear, you'll only exhaust yourself."

Emma chuckled a little bit before the car became silent. Chessur watched the scenery go by as they drove. Storeybrooke was quite a beautiful place with it's lovely woods and small town atmosphere.

"Can I ask you something?" Emma questioned from the front seat without looking at Chessur.

"Sure," Chessur said almost absentmindedly, her eyes glued to the passing trees.

"Where have you been sleeping?" Emma glanced at the girl in the rearview mirror. She watched as a giant mischievous smile grew on her lips.

"How'd you find out?" Chessur asked with a chuckle. She shifted her attention to the rearview mirror, so she could look at Emma's face.

"Granny asked me this morning how you were doing living with Mary Margaret and all of us," Emma explained with a ghost of a smirk.

"If you must know, I've been sleeping in the woods," Chessur stated with a defiant gleam in her eyes.

"Why?"

It was such a simple question, but it didn't have a simple answer that wouldn't be questioned. Chessur remarked, "Why do you care?"

"Because, Chessur, you're just a kid," Emma exclaimed, "You shouldn't have to sleep in the woods or deal with everything alone."

"I've had to do a lot of things kids shouldn't _have_ to do, but here I am," Chessur leaned forward with a dark look and smile. "Don't make the mistake of forgetting that I am a killer, a thief, a criminal, and what you would consider a villain."

"You don't have to be like that anymore. Regina is trying to change, so why can't you?"

"Because..." the words died in Chessur's throat. She couldn't bring herself to say it just yet to this woman whom she barely knew.

The rest of the ride was in silence. They pulled into the Sheriff Station and Chessur put on a huge smile. As Emma took her inside she noticed the looks she received from passing people.

Emma took photos of her then locked her in a holding cell as they waited for the hours to pass. Jefferson had said him and his daughter would come by around two. Chessur laid back on the stiff mattress with her eyes glued to the engravings on her pocket watch. She ran her thumb over the intricate details. She must have spent hours like that.

At around one, the phone rang loudly in the quiet Sheriff Station. Emma picked up the phone and after a few minutes of conversation that Chessur didn't bother to listen to she hung up.

"I've got go, don't do anything stupid," Emma said as she walked away.

"No promises," Chessur called out with an amused tone. Now she sat alone in a cell once again waiting for someone who may never come. She compared this situation to the one she had been in less than three weeks ago. At least this cell had a bed.

"What's going to happen next?" Chessur asked herself. She had no plan to get out of here or for when Jefferson came by. What was he going to say to her? What would she say back? Was he going to press charges? Chessur checked the time and sighed, "I suppose I'll just have to wait."

Emma came back ten minutes later with the mayor, Charming, and Snow. Regina looked utterly confused and lost. The others looked frustrated and confused to Chessur. Chessur on the other hand was utterly amused as the mayor was drug into the interrogation room. It appeared that the mayor had been arrested for something. What Chessur had no idea, but this piqued her curiosity. They all disappeared into the interrogation room, before Chessur could say anything.

Another ten minutes past and Regina was put in the holding cell next to Chessur's. Chessur checked the time, Jefferson should be here any minute. Chessur looked at Regina with interest. She looked completely disbelieving to whatever they had arrested her for. Chessur would've bet that Regin hadn't even registered Chessur's presence.

"Your majesty?" Chessur said softly as she swung her legs off the stiff bed. Regina flinched and Chessur's lips formed a small smile. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing here?"

"They think I killed Archie," She said slowly like she was trying to keep her voice from shaking. The sight unsettled Chessur greatly, but she didn't show it. "What'd you do to get here?"

"Oh, nothing much, just broke into the Mad Hatter's place gave him and his daughter, a good scare," Chessur said with a dismissive gesture and a smirk. They settled into silence for what felt like eternity.

"What did you mean when you said, he wanted to turn you into me," Regina asked tentatively.

"Rumple is damn good at manipulating people, but there was always a small chance you wouldn't do what he needed. I was a back up, someone not as ideal but much more pliable," Chessur explained lowly.

"What do you mean more pliable?"

"Quite frankly, you're stronger than me, there was more of a chance that you would rebel," Chessur said casually. Regina opened her mouth to say something, but it was then that Jefferson and his daughter arrived. Regina watched as the girl she had been talking softly with seemed to shift into The Cheshire Cat. She stood up and her cotton candy lips formed a large malicious smile. Her eyes danced with madness. She stalked towards the bars of the cage, her movements graceful and cat-like. Chessur hissed, "Hello, Hatter."

The Charming clan came into the room. They looked between Jefferson and Chessur several times. The two stared at each other with defiant glares. No one spoke for awhile till Jefferson broke the silence," I think you all should here a story." He looked around at them all before meeting Chessur's eyes again. "The whole story of The Cheshire Cat."

Regina noticed a change in Chessur. She gripped the bars tightly and Chessur suddenly seemed tense. Though the smile never left her face, in fact she laughed, "Oh, this is low, even for you, Hatter."

He seemed undeterred as he started, "Once upon a time, there was a girl born in Wonderland named Ashley Chessur-"

"You lost the right to call me that," Chessur interjected.

"-And she was born to two loving parents. Though she was born with little magic, she had some. When Chessur was four, The Queen of Hearts appeared in Wonderland. The queen would attack villages with her army and beast. When Chessur was five, her parents were killed by the beast. Several months latter she met the Hatter-"

"The _Mad_ Hatter," Chessur snapped, getting

noticeably more irritated.

"-He introduced her to the White Queen and all her friends. Chessur spent her childhood years as a vagabond in Wonderland and a jokester and friend. The war between the White Queen and the Queen of Hearts got worse over the next five years," Jefferson continued confidently. Chessur was fidgeting and her smile was gone. Regina could see signs of cold sweat appearing on the girl's skin. "When Chessur was ten that's when-"

" _Don't you dare,_ say her filthy name!" Chessur screamed furiously seeming to snap. Snow could be seen taking an instinctive step back. For the first time Jefferson faltered as he looked at Chessur, who seemed close to breaking.

"-That's when a savior appeared. When Chessur was eleven the great battle between the savior and the queen's beast was to take place. Though the savior never showed and everyone save Chessur Cat died. The White Queen, the March Hare, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the White Rabbit, and the Dormouse all dead-"

Tears spilled from Chessur's eyes as she growled, "Forget to mention you abandoned us did you?"

"-When Rumpelstiltskin took her in she was surrounded by darkness, so she became dark-"

"I adapted," Chessur snapped angrily.

"-And she became The Cheshire Cat," Jefferson finished in a solemn tone.

Chessur started to laugh maniacally to the point that she doubled over. Varying levels of shock was on all of the others faces.

She gripped the bars tightly and growled as tears flowed down her cheeks, "I can feel your pity, but I don't want it. What was this Hatter? Was it you trying to see what I've become?"

Her Cheshire grin was in place despite the fact she was still crying. Jefferson remarked, "You don't have to be mad anymore."

Chessur laughed once again, "Did you know?"

"Know what?" Jefferson asked confused at the sudden change in topic.

"That _she's_ here," Chessur snarled.

"Who?"

" _Alice_ , I can _feel_ it, she's here," Chessur giggled maniacally. "I spent a year looking for her and now I know she is here somewhere."

"That's impossible," Jefferson argued though it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"But, I know it's true," Chessur growled, "She should've at least tried. She didn't and the people of Wonderland died. And when I find the bitch. I will burn her like a witch."

Jefferson's face went through many emotion, before settling on determination. He argued, "I know it feels like it, but killing her isn't the answer. They would want this for you, Chessur."

"How dare you," Chessur growled, "You don't have the right to tell me what they would've wanted. You _left_ Jefferson, so as far as I'm concerned you have no say in what I choose to do with the traitorous bitch."

"Now wait a minute," Charming spoke up, "Chessur isn't going to kill anyone."

"Just watch me, Charming," Chessur hissed.

"You're better than this," Snow argued, "You don't want to be some villain, do you?

"I'm not looking for royal approval," Chessur growled as she locked eyes with Jefferson, "I'm looking for blood."

"Maybe you should go... you seem to set her off more than anything," Emma said slowly.

"You're right," Jefferson admitted reluctantly. He glanced at Chessur again with a wary look. "I won't press charges, but it would be better for everyone if the cat stays caged. If Alice is here then there is no telling what she'll do."

"It's impolite to talk about people like they aren't here," Chessur singsonged, "I will find her, and I will kill her."

Jefferson and his daughter turned and walked away. Jefferson didn't look back, but his daughter did. She met Chessur's eyes and sent her a small apologetic smile. It wasn't much, but it made Chessur falter. Chessur's smile changed for a moment from malicious to something softer. Then Grace turned away and walked out of the Sheriff Station with her father.

There was a beat of silence before Emma cleared her throat and said, "As for you, Regina, you're free."

"Farewell, your majesty," Chessur purred as she bowed elegantly. Emma sent her a weird look as she unlocked Regina's cell.

The Charming clan left not long after Regina left. They went to further investigate the murder. Chessur was left alone to seep in her own madness and blood thirst. She paced her cage, mumbling and laughing. Hours had passed and night had fallen.

She wanted more than almost anything to see Alice pay for abandoning the people of Wonderland. Alice was sixteen last time Chessur saw her. She would be about nineteen now. What would she look like? How was she? Did she regret abandoning them? Chessur shook her head of these thoughts. It didn't matter how she was doing. Chessur grabbed her head in her hands, digging her fingernails into her scalp. Chessur let out a scream of frustration, that was followed by loud wild laughter.

"Why did you do it," Chessur yelled out to no one, "Why did you leave?"

She felt like she was on fire, her body was boiling hot. She ripped off her gray jacket hurriedly. She ripped the right sleeve doing so, but she didn't care. She threw the jacket off to the side. She ripped a strip of fabric of the sheet on the mattress in the cell. She used the strip to tie up her hair, revealing her small, slightly pointed ears. She still felt unbearably hot. Her heart felt like it was burning a hole in her chest. Her breath came short and quick. Suddenly, a strange chill went down her spine and her heart all but stopped.

"Cora," Chessur growled menacingly as she turned around slowly.

"Hello, Chessur, feeling a little stressed are we?" Cora said smoothly. She was still dressed in her clothes from the Enchanted Forest.

"Here to kill me, are we?" Chessur mocked with her Cheshire grin now in place. She was still boiling and her breathing ragged, but the Cheshire Cat was never weak.

"Actually, no, but I entertained the thought," Cora answered with a dismissive gesture. "How are you doing, Ashley?"

"Don't call me that," Chessur snapped darkly and her eyes turned hard.

"Oh, right, you prefer one of those monikers you earned or Chessur," Cora said absentmindedly, "So, demon, how are you feeling?"

Chessur's smile turned predatory as she snarled, "Mad."

"Good, because despite your previous betrayal, I have a proposal for you," Cora replied casually as she ran her hand across Emma's desk.

"And what could the Queen of Hearts want of little old me," Chessur giggled.

"You help me do what I came here to do and I'll help you find Alice," Cora said sweetly.

Chessur's smile dropped and an animalistic growl rumbled in her throat. She demanded, "Why? I betrayed you."

"Because, quite frankly, I believe you are better suited for what I need than Hook, but having both of you on my side will make my victory all the more secure," Cora answered with a smirk. "Besides what loyalty do you have to these people?"

Chessur was quiet for a moment as she stared at the ground. She began to chuckle lowly, "They think me a villain, because I want to kill Alice."

"So?" Cora asked with raised eyebrows.

"I think it's time to show them how truly villainous I can be," Chessur growled. She punctuated that sentence with a wild laugh. Cora's lips formed a small smile and with a wave of her hand Chessur's cell unlocked. Chessur kicked the cage door roughly causing it to swing open quickly.

"Now, shall we go to meet Hook, Cheshire Cat?" Cora asked smiling.

Chessur's own smile was wild and filled with malice. She said lowly, "Let me do something quickly."

After Chessur finished what she wanted to do, Cora teleported them to the docks. Chessur walked behind Cora as they approached Hook. He looked up at them and raised his eyebrows when he saw Chessur.

"What's she doing here," He asked suspiciously.

"I'm here to help you create a little chaos, Mr. Jones," Chessur singsonged.

Hook smirked, "Good to have you back, Cat." He looked to Cora and asked, "Did you get what you wanted?"

"Yes, my daughter has lost everything," Cora said simply.

"Huh," Killian scoffed, "Aren't you mum of the year."

"I did what was needed," Cora insisted.

"What about what I need?" Hook asked as he sharpened his hook, "You promised, you would help me get revenge on Rumpelstiltskin."

"And I've already started or didn't you notice the gift I left in your ship's hold?" Cora asked with a smirk.

"A gift?" Killian asked as he stood up, "What is it?"

"Not what, who," Cora said as she stepped on to the invisible ship followed by Chessur. Chessur hummed the forgotten song as they walked through the ship.

When they reached the cargo hold, Chessur's eyes landed on a bound and gagged Dr. Hopper. She let out a low whistle and giggled, "I thought he was killed."

"You disguised the body to look like him," Hook said slowly.

"This man is privy to everyone's secrets including the Dark One and Alice," Cora explained.

Chessur's smile immediately turned predatory as she sauntered towards the man. She bent down to his level and roughly ripped the gag out of his mouth. She grabbed him by his very little hair and forced him to look at her.

" _Where. Is. Alice."_ The Cheshire Cat growled slowly.

-coc-

 _"You're late," was the first thing they heard. The White Rabbit was thumping his foot impatiently as he glared at Jefferson._

 _"Yes, but I have a good reason," Jefferson said as he pushed Chessur forward gently, "This is Chessur."_

 _The girl looked over them all curiously. The White Rabbit was a well... a white rabbit wearing a blue waistcoat and wire rimmed glasses perched on his pink nose._

 _The White Queen rose from her seat at the head of the table gracefully. She approached the small girl, each step the definition of elegance. Her long white dress that reached the ground was spotless and pure. Her skin a beautiful pale tone that contrasted her dark brown eyes. Her crown perched elegantly on her pure white hair. The girl awkwardly bowed as the queen approached. The White Queen bent down to the girl's level and with her forefinger tilted Chessur's head up. The queen smiled and said, "None of that silly bowing, Chessur dear."_

 _Jefferson said, "This is the White Queen, her name though is Bellerose. The rabbit in the waistcoat is the White Rabbit, but you may call him Horace if you wish. The grey rabbit that won't stop twitching is the March Hare, he goes by March. The Dormouse in named Sophia. And Tweedledee and Tweedledum are simply that."_

 _The March Hare was a grey hare with disheveled fur and ears that stuck up in unnatural angles. The dormouse was a brown mouse sitting atop a tea kettle in a pink dress. Tweedledee and Tweedledum were a pair of stout twins each in a striped shirt and shorts. They all waved at her with large smiles._

 _The White Queen, Bellerose, took her hand gently and lead her to a seat between the White Rabbit and the March Hare. She said softly, "Would you like some tea, Chessur dear?"_

 ** _So, what did you think? Chessur is working with Cora again, and the flashbacks for the next couple chapters will be focused on the happy times in Wonderland. If you liked follow, favourite, and/or review. Thank you so much if you have already done one of those things._**


	7. Chapter 7

_Chessur ran around a corner quickly as she laughed loudly. She was enjoying this too much. She was seven now, still a little girl. She was being chased by a few of the supposed Queen of Hearts had played a prank on a group of them that was planning planning on raiding a small village. She had set all their horses free and thrown their boots into a nearby lake. She had made sure that they would see her though as she tried to make an 'escape'._

 _"Get her," cried out one of the soldiers._

 _Chessur laughed even louder as she turned another corner. She could've run faster and lost them awhile ago. She was enjoying this too much. She had tricked the mice into thinking they were the cat. She lead them to a dead end. She turned around with a flair of her purple tailcoat._

 _"Now you die," a soldier panted as he pointed his sword at her._

 _"How about no," Chessur giggled with a large grin._

 _"We have you trapped, Cheshire Cat," the soldier yelled._

 _"Oh, you poor, poor imbecile," Chessur laughed loudly and smirked, "The Cheshire Cat can't be trapped."Chessur snapped her fingers and disappeared._

-coc-

Emma walked into the Station the next morning with her usual coffee. It had been a long night. Henry had been so upset about Regina. She spent most of the night comforting him. She rubbed her eyes as she walked over to her desk. That's when she noticed it. Chessur's cell was wide open and the girl was gone.

"No, _no, no, no,_ " Emma muttered to herself as she walked over to the cell. The lock was unlocked and intact. That's when she saw a folded piece of paper on the bed. She picked up the paper and unfolded it.

 _The Cheshire Cat can't be trapped_. That was what it said along with a smiley face. Emma ran her hand over her face. Emma went to check the security cameras, but found that they were missing the footage from the night before. Emma did the only thing she could think of, she called her parents and then the only person who had known Chessur personally.

Jefferson picked up saying, "Hello."

"Hey, Jefferson, it's Emma, um, something happened with Chessur," She said nervously.

There was a pause before Jefferson said, "What do you mean something _happened_?"

"She's gone, she escaped from her cell somehow," Emma explained, "I already called my parents, but you're the only one who knew Chessur personally, so..."

"I get it, but this could be bad Emma, very bad."

"I know, you made that very clear yesterday."

He sighed, "I'll be at the Station soon, okay. I hesitate to say this, but we might want to talk to Rumpelstiltskin."

"Why?"

"I'll explain when I get there, see you soon," Jefferson said before he hung up.

Charming and Snow showed up first, finding Emma pacing back and forth. They waited anxiously for Jefferson to show up.

"Sorry, it took me so long," Jefferson said as he came in. He looked especially distressed. His hair and clothes were disheveled. "Now, what all do you know?"

"Nothing," Emma exclaimed, "There isn't any evidence that Chessur was even here or where she went, except this." Emma held up the note for Jefferson.

He grabbed it and looked over it several times. He said, "She's mocking us, or more accurately me. She knew I'd be the only one to remember this."

"The Cheshire Cat can't be trapped, what does that even mean?" Charming asked.

"When Chessur was younger and the Queen of Hearts' army started becoming more active she took to pranking them. Slowing the troops down and breaking their equipment, stuff like that. This is what she would say to them when they tried to capture her," Jefferson explained with a low chuckle.

"You said that we should talk to Rumpelstiltskin, why?" Emma asked as she ran her hand roughly through her hair.

"I may of known Chessur, but he knows the Cheshire Cat," Jefferson replied.

"Okay, then let's go," David said as he picked up his jacket. They walked out of the Station and down the road to Gold's shop. Their gait was quick and anxious. Jefferson kept running his hand through his hair in a nervous way. His eyes constantly flickering from one spot to another like he was expecting Chessur to pop up randomly. Which to be fair, was a very reasonable possibility.

Emma led the group into Gold's shop. The bell rang signaling their entrance. Gold sat behind the counter fiddling with some piece of paper. He looked up and drawled, "Well, look it's the Charming clan and friends."

"We need to know about Chessur, Gold," David said in a business-like tone.

They all saw Gold's features harden. A deep scowl found it's home on his features. He snarled, "I can't help you with that one, dearie."

"Can't or won't," Snow asked skeptically.

"Can't, actually," He growled, "That deal is one I regret greatly. We are all better off with her in a cell."

"She escaped last night," Jefferson said solemnly.

Something that resembled panic crossed Gold's features for half a second. He stood up and leaned across the counter. He growled, "How?"

"I don't know, she was just gone," Emma exclaimed. "You really can't help us, can you?"

"That girl is completely unpredictable," Rumpelstiltskin stated, "Her madness isn't a sickness or a weakness like most, it's power. Much like Wonderland itself she is nothing but nonsense and madness."

There was a loud crash outside the shop.

"What was that?" Snow asked slowly. Another crash like breaking glass punctuated that question. Emma and the others rushed out of Gold's shop. Gold followed them out slowly.

Chessur was mid-swing when they came up. The metal baseball bat she had nicked from the only sports store went through the car window like butter. The crash was loud and oddly satisfactory. She had been walking down the street doing this. So, far she had taken out three mailboxes, four car windows, and a flower shop window.

She laughed loudly as she went for another car window. She looked up and noticed her new audience. She smiled widely and called out, "Hello, nice of you to swing by." She laughed loudly at her own joke.

"Chessur, what are you doing?" Snow cried out.

Chessur looked at the bat in her hand and then back at Snow several times. She furrowed her brow in confusion as she looked at Snow. Chessur drawled, "I thought it was pretty damn obvious."

"Why are you doing this?" Jefferson asked as he took slow steps towards the girl with his hands up.

She pointed the bat at him, "Not a step closer, Hatter."

He stopped walking, but kept his hands up. He looked incredibly nervous for a man twice her size. He asked again, "Why are you doing this?"

"You thought me a villain, so I'm giving you one," She said as she swung her bat through another car window. "Though, this destruction is just a warning."

"A warning?" Charming asked.

"Yes, you know what I want," Chessur growled.

"And what would that be, dearie?" Rumple asked with a scowl.

"What I've always wanted, Rumple dear, _Alice's head_ ," Chessur snarled as she swung her bat lazily. "I'll ask nicely for now. _Where is Alice?_ "

"I don't know," Jefferson said reluctantly as he let his hands drop to his sides.

Chessur pulled out her pocket watch and checked the time. She smirked and said menacingly, "Then find her, or I'll be back and I won't just break some windows."

Chessur threw the metal bat at Jefferson before making herself vanish. She watched in her now invisible state as Jefferson ducked and the bat flew over his head. It didn't matter, Hook should have captured Belle by now.

In her invisible state, Chessur walked back to the docks. She saw Hook standing there alone. She growled, "Where is Belle?"

"Things didn't go to plan, she locked herself in an elevator before I could capture her," Hook explained frustrated.

Chessur ripped a hand through her hair as she asked, "What do we do now?"

"You do whatever the hell you want," Killian said pointing his hook at her, "Cora or I will contact you when you're needed."

She laughed, "Fine, just don't die. The Dark One will be coming for you, Mr. Jones."

She vanished again and began to stroll through Storeybrooke. She past many people, but none of them knew she was there. Every once and awhile she would trip someone just to see their reaction. She doubted that either Killian or Cora will contact her today.

She found herself in at the toll bridge in the woods. She had sought out the solitude of the woods instinctively. Chessur made herself visible as she approached the stream that ran under the bridge. Chessur unlaced the white sneakers she had been wearing. She tied the laces together and hung the shoes in a tree. With a genuine smile, she walked into the stream relishing in the way the cold water felt on her bare feet.

Not really caring if she got her clothes wet. Chessur bent down and scooped some water onto her head. She repeated this action several times until her hair was dripping wet. She ran a hand through her hair that now looked almost black.

That's when she noticed she wasn't alone. Sitting on the edge of the toll bridge with her feet dangling was Grace. The two girls just stared at each other for a moment neither knowing what to do. Chessur was the first to recover from shock.

"What are you staring at?" Chessur asked harshly. Chessur was surprised to see Grace here. Shouldn't she be in school or something?

Grace snapped out of her stupor. She blinked several times as if regaining her bearings. Grace answered honestly, "I'm just surprised to see you here."

"Well I could say the same about you," Chessur sighed, "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"I decided to skip today, I needed a break," Grace said firmly. "Shouldn't _you_ be in a jail cell."

Chessur chuckled, "I escaped, I'm a criminal on the run. In fact, I just got back from breaking some windows with a bat in town."

Grace tensed, but asked defiantly, "Is that supposed to make me scared of you?"

"No, I assume my murderous rant made you scared of me," Chessur purred as she walked towards the toll bridge. She looked up at Grace from the stream expecting the girl to bolt. She was pleasantly surprised when Grace didn't move an inch.

"You didn't look very murderous to me," Grace said to Chessur who was know standing in front of her dangling feet. A smirk grew on Chessur's face.

"Then what did I look like, Grace dear?"

"Desperate," Grace stated simply. The smirk on Chessur's face dropped and she repressed a growl. Grace noticed the shift in the other girl and shifted uncomfortably.

"How so?" Chessur asked genuinely curious.

She studied Grace's features as her face went through several emotions. Grace pursed her lips for a moment before starting, "I can't explain it, I just know."

Chessur raised her eyebrows and said, "They say to avoid desperate people because they are unpredictable."

Grace looked down a Chessur with a small smirk. She singsonged, "Yes, but you aren't going to hurt me, are you?"

Chessur smirked at the girl. She started to absentmindedly mess with one of the laces on Grace's shoe. She retorted, "Why wouldn't I? Apparently I'm desperate."

"Well, for starters you seemed genuinely surprised that I was here," Grace said. She wasn't wrong, Chessur had let her guard down and thought she was alone until she had looked up. "Also, why wait this long to hurt me? If you were going to hurt me you would've done so already."

"Maybe, I like to toy with my prey," Chessur said smoothly as she quirked an eyebrow at Grace. Chessur wasn't sure why she was talking with the Hatter's daughter, but she couldn't bring herself to end the conversation.

Grace laughed. Chessur thought she had a nice laugh, it was light and melodic. Grace smirked and asked, "So, I'm your prey?"

Chessur sent her an overdramatic wink. Grace laughed even more, before settling into a lazy smile. Chessur realized she had been playing with Grace's shoelace and dropped it immediately. Chessur asked, "So, tell me, why would the Mad Hatter's daughter want a break from school?"

Grace's smile faltered just enough for Chessur to notice. Grace said with a half-hearted shrug, "Just stressed about some upcoming test."

"Why don't I believe you," Chessur asked slowly. Chessur stuck her hands in her pockets to keep from playing with Grace's shoelace again.

"I don't know," Grace said as she narrowed her eyes at Chessur.

"Maybe, because that was a lie," Chessur said with a smirk.

"And how would you know, oh, _great Cheshire Cat_ ," Grace drawled, "If I was lying."

"I don't know, I _feel_ ," Chessur told her with her Cheshire grin in place. "I _feel_ like you're lying."

"Why would I lie?" Grace questioned exasperatedly.

Chessur put her finger to her chin. She listed, "Shame, pride, embarrassment, loyalty, stubbornness, secrecy-"

"Alright, I get it, there are a lot of reasons people lie," Grace interrupted putting her hands up.

"But what's your reason?" Chessur asked with a small smile. Grace bit her lip before as she looked Chessur up and down. "What don't trust me? Who am I going to tell? I'm a wanted criminal, they wouldn't believe me and then they would try to arrest me."

"It's nothing really, I'm just being overly sensitive," Grace insisted.

Chessur narrowed her eyes at the other girl. She knew Grace was holding something back, but she wasn't going to pry. It really wasn't any of her business. Chessur said as she began to walk away, "I'm going to go, before you catch my madness."

"I don't think you can catch madness," Grace argued. Chessur threw back her head and laughed as she vanished.

Chessur decided to go check in with Killian. She had a bad feeling about leaving him to his own devices. She strolled through Storeybrooke invisible to those around her. It was a bittersweet feeling, being invisible. On one hand, she had the power to pull pranks without being caught. Though there was also a pang of loneliness as she watched people look through her and move to embrace their loved ones. When was the last time she had been hugged? She honestly couldn't remember, it had been long ago though.

She turned visible as Chessur walked onto the deck of Killian's ship. Killian sat on a crate, his face bleeding. Chessur's eyebrow twitched and she asked, "What happened while I was gone, Mr. Jones?"

"The girl, Belle, she set Dr. Hopper free and the crocodile showed up and did _this_ to my face," Hook admitted slowly. He watched Chessur's reaction out of the corner of his eye. There was know telling how she would react.

She stepped into arm's reach of Hook and with a sickly sweet smile asked, "So you're telling me that in the couple hours I was gone. You managed to get your arse kicked by the dark one and his girlfriend, expose Cora, expose the location of your ship, expose my rekindled partnership with Cora, and set free the man with the best chance of telling me where Alice is."

He growled slowly, "Yes."

In one quick movement, Chessur had a hand around his throat and the other in his chest gripping his heart. Chessur laughed at the way he winced when she squeezed slightly. She snarled, "I should kill you."

"Cora wants me alive," Hook managed to choke out as he gripped the sides of the crates tightly.

"Yes, she does, despite my protest, it's poor judgement on her part," Chessur growled, "If it was up to me you would be long gone, because you're getting in my way, _Mr. Jones_ , and that is something not even Rumple himself dares to do."

Hook looked in the girl's eyes and he finally understood the name Demon of Wonderland. He nodded stiffly and she retracted her hand from his chest with a giggle. She smirked at the way he breathed heavily trying to regain his composure.

"What of Cora? Does she have any orders for me?" Chessur asked lightly.

He cleared his throat before speaking, "This appeared a while ago." It was a folded paper with, in elegant cursive, Chessur's nickname scrawled on top. Chessur smirked at the particular name Cora had used. It was one very few knew her by for truly _gruesome_ reasons. Chessur never forgot this name, but she rarely mentioned it. _The Ballroom Butcher_. Chessur opened the card and read the inside. It simply said that The Ballroom Butcher was to make a reappearance if things didn't go as planned. "What's it say?"

"Ever heard of The Ballroom Butcher Incident of Haveron?" Chessur asked without looking up.

"Of course, it was quite the massacre," Killian exclaimed, "Everyone heard of it."

"It was more of a mass execution," Chessur argued absentmindedly.

"You were there?"

"I'm the butcher," Chessur purred proudly with a large grin. She chose to ignore the twisting in her stomach at the memory of the massacre.

"You are The Ballroom Butcher," Killian scoffed as he eyed the girl up and down. "How many people have you killed exactly?"

She waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "The number isn't important. It would serve you well to remember that while assassin is the label I use it isn't the most accurate. Sometimes I played assassin, sometimes mass executioner, and sometimes I was simply a one girl army."

Killian looked at her with a troubled expression for a moment. After he regained his composure he asked, "What does The Ballroom Butcher Incident have to do with your orders?"

"It means in the unlikely event that Cora fails with whatever she is doing, The Butcher is to reappear, in a manner of speaking," Chessur explained as a smirk settled on her features. Her heart was pounding in her chest though, and she felt a little sick. She could vividly remember that night, it wasn't something she looked forward to recreating. She forced the feeling and thoughts away, this was no time to start feeling.

Night was starting to fall and the two villains were silent for a moment. Hook examined the girl once more. At first glance when Cora had introduced them he had scoffed at the thought that this little girl was The Cheshire Cat. This was not The Cheshire Cat of rumor whom for two years plagued various kingdoms before disappearing like a phantom. In some ways, Chessur was worse than the rumors.

Killian cleared his throat, "I have business to attend to... do whatever you want."

Chessur watched silently with a smirk as he walked off the ship. She whistled an old tune after he was out of ear shot. Chessur quickly grew bored as she wandered around the ship. It wasn't good for anyone when she grew bored. An idea popped into her mind and the corners of her lips pulled up forming a playful smile. This was a bad idea. A horrid, terrible, stupid, reckless idea that Chessur shouldn't even give a second thought. Though she did, she gave it a second and third thought before settling on the idea.

It took a little over a half an hour to make it across town to Jefferson's house. Chessur scanned the house in the cover of darkness. She walked leisurely to the house's porch. The house was two stories, and you could reach the second story windows via the wooden awning. Chessur used the railing to get up and grab the edge of the awning. She pulled herself up and over onto the awning. She was used to having to sneak into castles by scaling the walls, so this was nothing.

With extreme caution she looked into the nearest window that was currently dark. It appeared to be a bedroom and Chessur could just make out the sleeping form of Jefferson. She checked the time on her pocket watch. It was only nine o' clock, what was he doing asleep? He must be getting old. Chessur silently snickered at the thought.

Chessur creeped over to the other window that had light pouring out of it from under the curtains. Chessur assumed this was Grace's room, but checked the other windows as well. Chessur, after proving her assumption correct, gently knocked on Grace's window.

The curtains kept her from seeing Grace nearly jump out of her skin inside at the noise. Grace looked at the window warily. Her first thought was to get her Papa, but she refrained against that instinct. If it was a burglar, why knock? The knock sounded just as gently a few seconds later. Grace picked up the nearest heavy object, which happened to be a stapler. She approached the curtains slowly with a thumping heart. She put her hand on the curtain, and gripped the stapler tighter. She took a deep breath then flung open the curtain.

Grace threw back her head and groaned quietly. She looked back at Chessur who sat on the other side of the window looking pointedly at the stapler with a smirk. They met eyes and Chessur waved by wiggling her fingers playfully. Grace glared back as she let out a deep breath through her nose. Grace's glare earned her a wide friendly smile. Grace put her forehead against the window and moaned quietly, "Why? Why me? Why now?"

Chessur knocked on the window softly again. Grace looked up to see her breathing on the glass. When Chessur created enough fog on the glass she wrote out a word and gave Grace two thumbs up. _Open_. Grace dragged her hand over her face and looked up at the ceiling. She shook her head at Chessur.

Chessur pouted, and Grace had to admit it was kind of adorable. With her pale pink lower lip sticking out and her big round eyes imploring her to open the window. Grace shook her head of these thoughts. _No, it was a mistake to talk to the girl earlier and it would be a mistake to let her in,_ Grace told herself.

Chessur breathed on the window again making more fog appear. _Please?_ Chessur shook her head again. Chessur made a sad face in the fog, and pouted more. Grace grabbed a nearby piece of paper and wrote, no, on it. She pushed it up against the window, so Chessur could read it.

Looking rather dejected, Chessur walked over to the edge of the roof before turning back around to Grace. She gave a half hearted two-fingered salute, before lifting her foot to step off the roof. Grace had never opened her window faster. Grace hissed, "What are you doing?"

Chessur looked at her as if she had grown a second head. She said simply, "Well, the person I came to see doesn't want to see me, so I'm leaving."

"You don't have to jump off the roof," Grace whisper yelled.

"But, you don't want me inside."

"So?"

"How else am I supposed to get down?"

Grace contemplated that for a moment before realising Chessur was right. She sighed, "Why are you here, Chessur?"

Chessur smiled and walked over to the window. She sat down with her legs crossed a foot away from the window. She remarked in a hushed tone, "I got bored, and I thought of you."

"What would make you think I would want to talk to you?" Grace questioned quickly. Grace was utterly confused by this girl, but then again so was everyone else. "You threw a baseball bat at my father and you're a criminal. I should call the sheriff."

"Yet, you haven't," Chessur commented with a smirk, "Haven't even woken up, Jeffy."

Grace face palmed and grumbled, "Why are you here?"

"I was bored, and talking to you came to mind," Chessur said with an indifferent shrug.

"So, you just climbed up onto my roof at night and figured out which window was mine?"

"Mhmm."

"You're mad," Grace deadpanned.

"I know, isn't it great," Chessur whispered cheerfully.

Grace hung her head defeated. What was she going to do with this mad girl? She looked back up and met Chessur's titanium eyes. Grace noted the bags under Chessur's eyes. Grace eyed the rest of the girl meticulously. Her hair looked black in the darkness it contrasted her bright eyes and silver jacket.

"See something you like?" Chessur asked, and Grace swore she could _hear_ the smirk in the girl's tone. Grace looked back up to the girl's face and scowled at Chessur's smug smirk.

Grace matched her smirk and quipped, "You wish."

Chessur wiggled her eyebrows and purred, "Desperately."

Chessur gave an overdramatic wink, and Grace had to bite her tongue to keep from giggling. This wasn't right, she shouldn't be joking with this mad girl, Grace mentally scolded herself. She schooled her features into a look of indifference. Grace said, "I don't believe you came her to just talk."

Chessur arched an eyebrow at the change of topic, but didn't comment. She answered honestly, "Well, I also though the stars would look brighter out here in the woods, away from the town lights."

"So The Cheshire Cat likes to star gaze?" Grace questioned leaning forward out of the window.

Chessur looked up at the night sky and commented quietly, "The stars are different."

"What?" Grace asked bewildered at the random comment. How could the stars be different?

"In Wonderland, there is different constellations and the stars are red, blue, purple, green, and white," Chessur said pleasantly. Grace noted a tone of longing that laced Chessur's words.

"Sounds very pretty," Grace said slowly as she watched waiting for Chessur's reaction.

An easy grin formed on Chessur's lips. She mumbled, "It is."

They stayed like that for a moment. Chessur staring up at the stars with a lazy smile and a happy twinkle in her eyes. Grace was leaning so far out the window that only her waist and below remained inside. She bit her lip as she looked at Chessur's features. She let out a soft sigh before climbing out the window and sitting next to Chessur. Chessur's gaze shifted to Grace and her smile widened.

Grace pointed out an especially bright star and said, "That's the north star, at night it always is on the north side as the name implies."

Chessur's stare went to the sky and she bit her lip looking for the star Grace was pointing out. She pointed at the star she believed it to be and Grace nodded. Grace continued to point out constellations that she knew and helped Chessur find them.

"Why the hell is it called Cancer if it's supposed to be a crab?" Chessur whisper yelled, "It doesn't even look like a crab, it's shaped like Y. And what idiot came up with the name Sagittarius? What the hell does that even mean? What'd they do, take a bunch of letters out of hat and, _voila_ , a name for a constellation. Honestly, these aren't even shaped like what they are supposed to represent."

Grace put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. Her father was asleep in the house, and there was a chance he could wake up and here them. Chessur smiled as she watched Grace try to stifle her laughter. Grace shot her a half hearted glare for enjoying her struggle. She finally composed herself when she felt Chessur poke her in the side. She bit her lip to keep from giggling.

She looked over at Chessur who had a mischievous look on her face. Chessur poked her a couple more times and Grace tried to get away while holding in laughter.

"Ticklish one, aren't you?" Chessur mocked quietly with a confident smirk. Grace shoved the other girl playfully as she glared at her. Chessur's smirk only grew at the lack of argument.

"You are utterly ridiculous and obnoxious," Grace huffed.

Chessur shrugged indifferently and commented, "Been called worse."

Grace looked back at Chessur reminded that this girl was a murderer and a madwoman. She just couldn't see it. Yes, Grace had seen the whole episode at the Sheriff Station, but it didn't match up with how Chessur was acting. She knew too well that she should've called Sheriff Swan the second she saw Chessur outside her window. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. Grace cleared her throat, "It's getting late."

Chessur checked her watch before nodding, "It is, I should go. We don't want to wake Jeffy now do we."

Chessur stood up and brushed the dirt off her jeans before walking over to the edge of the roof. She turned around with a flourish of her jacket. Chessur bowed low to Grace as she whispered dramatically, "It's been a honour and an extreme pleasure, Grace."

And then, like a phantom, she vanished.

-coc-

 _Chessur appeared at the White Queen's palace just as night fell with an extra pep in her step. She had successfully slowed down a regiment of The Queen of Hearts soldiers. She walked through the doors of the palace with a two-fingered salute to the guards._

 _Chessur hadn't gotten five steps in when she was wrapped up in someone's arms. The pure white fabric of the dress the 'someone' was wearing gave it away who it was. Chessur wrapped her arms around The White Queen's waist and closed her eyes._

 _"Where have you been?" Bellerose demanded as she stroked Chessur's dark purple hair. She had been worried sick waiting for the girl to come back._

 _"Nowhere and Everywhere," Chessur answered cryptically with a smile._

 _The Queen broke the hug and knelt down to Chessur's level. She looked the girl straight in the eye and asked, "What were you doing?"_

 _"What I always do, creating a little chaos," Chessur said unabashedly._

 _Bellerose sighed, and fought a smile, "What did you do to The Queen of Hearts' troops?"_

 _"I set their horses free and gave_ _their boots to the fish," Chessur said smugly with a mad glimmer in her eyes._

 _Bellerose chuckled and shook her head, "I thought I told you to stop doing this." Chessur set her jaw stubbornly, but didn't say anything. "Chessur dear, what if they trap you?"_

 _"White Rose, the Cheshire Cat can't be trapped," Chessur giggled while shaking her head._

 _Bellerose softened slightly at the nickname Chessur had given her. The queen wanted nothing more than to protect, to care, for the girl. She knew that on some instinctive level Chessur belonged to the wilderness of Wonderland, not a palace. She had tried many times, but Chessur couldn't be tamed in that way. She smiled at the girl and said softly, "I believe you, I just wish you'd be more careful. Why don't I meet you on the balcony in a few minutes? We can look at the stars."_

 _Chessur's eyes widened with happiness as she nodded vigorously before running off. She nearly fell going up the stairs, twice. Bellerose stood up and watched the girl go with a longing look._

 _"You care for her?" said The White Rabbit from a little bit away. He had watched the whole scene in silence with soft eyes._

 _"Deeply," The White Queen breathed._

 _"Like a mother cares for her daughter?"_

 _The White Queen looked at the ground. All was silent for a moment._

 _"I'm not her mother, though," was barely heard by The White Rabbit before The White Queen left to star gaze with Chessur._

 ** _What did you think? It took me way too long and for that I'm sorry, but I've been distracted writing this other thing that I just couldn't get out of my head. Anyways, thank you from the bottom of my heart, if you have followed, favourite, and/or review._**


	8. Chapter 8

_Laughter rang out with background music of clashing steel. Chessur parried the guard's lunge gracefully and giggled as she did so. Since she had turned seven The White Queen and the head of her royal guard had been training her in the way of the sword. That was seven months ago. She was fast and quick thinking, she had mastered the basics in a matter of weeks._ _The guard clenched his jaw in annoyance and slashed at the girl's left side. Chessur deftly blocked it and in the moment their swords were locked she kicked the guard squarely in the chest. He dropped his sword and fell on his arse._

 _Chessur laughed pleasantly as she offered him a hand up. He ignored her helping hand and picked himself up whilst glaring at The Cheshire Cat. He picked up his sword before stalking off to madness knows where. Chessur_ _watched him go with a tight lipped smile. This happened sometimes, though she never understood why. She would spar with one of the guards and she would win. They would get upset and stalk off without another word._

 _"Chessur_ _," someone whispered. Chessur_ _recognized the voice and smiled widely._

 _She greeted, "_ _'Ello Sophia."_

 _The_ _dormouse sat on The March Hare's head. March was leaning just enough out from behind a tree to be seen. Those two were usually together and creating chaos, so Chessur could often be seen with them. March's ears twitched constantly and his eyes flickered quickly from one thing to another. March_ _stammered loudly, "The red queen, blood queen, guards, Jabberwocky, huh, huh."_

 _March was usually like this and people who knew him well could make out what he was trying to say. Chessur pursed her lips and nodded. The dormouse finished, "We were going to play a trick on them, what do you say Chessur? "_

 _A_ _fire ignited in Chessur's eyes and she smiled mischievously. Chessur purred, "Can you feel it? "_

 _"What_ _?" Sophia asked excited._

 _"The_ _chaos is calling, my fiends, lets not keep it waiting," Chessur said as she sheathed her sword. Sophia and March gave a small cheer of agreement._

-coc-

Chessur stood in the forest. She had already checked the entire area for unwanted onlookers, but she looked once more. She had walked far away from Jefferson's house, so she now stood deep in the woods.

She took a playing card out of a hidden pocket inside her jacket. She scowled at the card. She had to pick _that_ particular card. Queen of Hearts. Chessur brushed off the annoyance and put on a smile as she placed the card on the ground. Chessur took a step back and waited. It wasn't long till she felt that familiar tingle down her spine and back of her brain.

"Chessur," Cora said smoothly, "I'd like you to meet my daughter, Regina."

Chessur turned around to the two women. Regina stood next to her mother with raised eyebrows. Chessur bowed lowly and said, "I've already had the great pleasure. It is good to see you again, your majesty."

"You're working with my mother, again?" Regina questioned suspiciously.

"Our partnership was recently rekindled," Chessur said slowly with a devilish smile.

"Did you hear what happened to Hook earlier?" Cora asked effectively changing the topic.

Chessur laughed, "Oh, what did Mr. Jones mess up now?"

Cora waved a dismissive hand and explained, "He shot Rumple's little toy, got hit by a car, and arrested."

Chessur doubled over laughing at the pirate's expense. He had messed up spectacularly and Chessur was enjoying every minute of it. She had told Cora not to leave Hook to his own devices, that he was too ambitious with his revenge. Chessur wiped her eyes and took a deep breath as she stood up straight. Both women were looking at her with raised eyebrows. Chessur could really see the family resemblance.

"I told you so," Chessur singsonged, "He's too ambitious with his revenge."

Regina gave a soft snort and commented, "What does that make you if he's too ambitious?"

Chessur stopped for a moment and pursed her lips in thought. She hadn't come up with the answer herself. She remembered something she had heard earlier that was the closest she could think to an answer. She said in a matter of fact tone, "Apparently desperate. What do we do now?"

"I will be going into hiding for awhile, and I suggest you do the same," Cora said simply.

A wicked grin appeared on Chessur's features. She said playfully, "Now, Cora, we both know that hiding has never been my style. Besides, didn't you want to meet a butcher?"

Regina looked in-between her mother and Chessur several times. She watched the exchange with extreme curiosity. Regina asked, "What butcher?"

"The Ballroom Butcher," Cora said simply her eyes never leaving Chessur's.

"The Ballroom Butcher is in Storybrooke?" Regina exclaimed. She knew the tale well. The kingdom of Haveron was having a masquerade ball to celebrate winning a war with another kingdom. All of the royals of Haveron were there. Then at midnight an uninvited guest appeared, no one knows for sure who the butcher was, because they were wearing a mask. At the end of the night The Ballroom Butcher had killed fifty people. The only survivor of the royal family was the King of Haveron himself. It was a massacre.

Chessur purred, "She is now."

Regina looked at the girl whom wore a smug smirk. It didn't take long to put two and two together. Regina mumbled, "You, you're The Ballroom Butcher?"

"In the flesh, the king of Haveron made a deal with Rumple and when he didn't pay up, I was sent to collect. Though when the king refused even further, well, the rest is history," Chessur explained with fake cheerfulness. She tried to brush off the twisting in her stomach. She turned back to Cora, "What are my orders?"

Cora said stiffly, "Plans have changed with Hook captured. They'll find the ship soon, because of him. I want you to keep an eye on everything that's happening in town. You've always been good at playing tricks and spying."

Chessur smirked and bowed mockingly, "As you wish, Cora." Cora scowled at the girl and then teleported in a poof of smoke. Regina looked at Chessur with a grimace. Chessur quirked an eyebrow at the queen. "What is it, your majesty?"

Regina opened her mouth to ask the question that was on her mind, but decided against it. Instead she asked, "Why don't you address my mother like a queen?"

"What do you mean?" Chessur asked in an amused tone.

"My mother was your queen of Wonderland, The Queen of Hearts, yet you don't address her like you, so stubbornly do me," Regina explained slowly ad she watched Chessur carefully.

Chessur's smile was replaced by a hatred filled sneer. Her eyes were on fire, like a sunset in Hell. Chessur stepped closer to Regina and growled, "I will _never_ acknowledge that witch as queen. She was and will _never_ be the _true_ queen of Wonderland. _I don't care_ what she called herself. I only serve one queen of Wonderland."

"Then why are you working for my mother?" Regina challenged as she met Chessur's fiery gaze.

"Not for, with, and as I said earlier, I'm desperate," Chessur snarled at the queen, "I suggest we go our separate ways, don't want to keep your mother waiting do you."

Regina scowled at the girl before teleporting in a poof of smoke as well. Chessur ran a hand over her face. She was exhausted and in dire need of a warm meal. Chessur entertained the idea of just striding into Granny's and ordering like she wasn't some criminal. Chessur doubted that Red Riding Hood or her grandmother would be as tolerant as Grace.

Grace. Why had she gone to see Grace earlier? It was stupid and pointless, not that all of Chessur's actions had good motives. Though even Chessur knew she was walking on thin ice. If Grace had called the Sheriff or woken Jefferson. Chessur had been bored and she had just thought of Grace. Boredom wasn't an excuse, she would have to be more careful. Though, Chessur always did her best work when she was in danger.

Chessur shook her head of these thoughts and with a grimace made her way towards town. She was a murderer, for madness' sake, Grace probably only tolerated her out of fear or self-preservation.

"I know better," Chessur mumbled to herself, "I'm not meant to have friends. It's just the way it is. I shouldn't care. As Rumple always said," she stopped and imitated Rumpelstiltskin's voice, " _A wolf does not concern himself with the opinions of sheep, and you, Cheshire Cat, are a wolf._ " Chessur laughed maniacally as she walked through the woods. "I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. Why would I care?"

"Chessur?" a feminine voice called out. Chessur whipped around and looked at the source of the voice. It was the tall woman who was with Henry when they had come through the portal.

Chessur wore a giant malicious smile like a medal. She purred, "Little Red Riding Hood isn't so little."

Red stood still trying to decide what to do. Everyone was looking for Chessur. They wanted to arrest her for the things she had done in Storybrooke. Now, Red was looking at the girl in the middle of the woods alone and Red didn't have her phone. Chessur was looking especially unhinged and Red had heard her mumbling something about not caring. Ruby demanded, "What are you doing out here?"

"Starving, among a number of other things," Chessur said with an indifferent shrug. "The moon looks bright tonight though wolf's time just passed, right?"

Ruby nodded reluctantly and took a couple slow steps closer to the girl who was looking up at the sky. She answered cautiously, "Yeah, but sometimes I get antsy when the moon is especially bright."

"Makes sense," Chessur murmured her eyes never leaving the moon.

Using her werewolf speed, Ruby surged forward and grabbed Chessur. Chessur giggled as Ruby said determinedly, "I have to bring you in, Chessur."

Chessur giggled some more and shook her head. Chessur knew that Ruby had supernatural strength and speed even without it being wolf's time. Chessur said pleasantly, "Okay, let's go to the station, I could use a nice meal and a good night sleep."

"Really?" Ruby asked surprised that the girl would come along so easily.

Chessur chuckled darkly and a malicious smile spread across her lips. She growled, "No."

Chessur jerked her head backwards and into Ruby's nose. Ruby on instinct let the girl go to cup her now bleeding nose. Chessur picked up a fallen branch that appeared to be about three feet long. She got into a fencing position. Ruby huffed and the two started to circle each other. Ruby lunged at Chessur. With a giggle, Chessur side-stepped the attack and lightly hit Ruby on the back of her head.

Ruby turned to the young girl looking especially vexed. Chessur smiled lazily and swung the branch lazily. Ruby surged forward at supernatural speeds and tried to grab the branch from Chessur. They both had their hands on the branch and Chessur could feel Ruby overpowering her.

Chessur knew she wasn't in tip top shape, nor did she have her weapon of choice. It was a desperate and dirty move, but Chessur needed to get away, to rest and eat. Chessur released one hand from the branch and grabbed Ruby by her long hair. Chessur brought her knee up while she yanked Ruby's head down. Ruby cried out in pain as Chessur's knee made contact with her temple. Chessur then gently lowered the woman to the ground.

"Bloody hell," Chessur mumbled as she ran her hand through her hair. Chessur looked at Ruby's lanky form that now lay on the forest floor. She could hear Ruby's rhythmic heavy breathing. "Great, just great, now I have a body to deal with. Hiding bodies was never my thing, too much effort."

Chessur bent down to look closer at Ruby. With a soft groan, Chessur began to wipe the blood on Ruby's face away. Chessur should just leave her there. That's what Rumple would have done. Chessur reasoned, "After all, you did attack me, but in your defense I did, kind of, commit some crimes. And I'm talking to an unconscious woman, this, this is why I don't have friends."

Chessur slowly, but surely started to lift the woman. Chessur put Ruby's arm around her shoulders and let her feet drag. Here came the hard part for Chessur. Carrying Ruby wouldn't be that hard if she was full strength. Except she had spent a lot of time invisible today and the fact she hadn't eaten or slept in twenty four hours these factors were taking their toll on Chessur's health. Making two people invisible takes more energy as well. She was just thankful that she wouldn't need to do that till they were out of the forest.

"Why are you so damn tall?" Chessur grunted every time she had to readjust the woman, because she had started to fall forwards. They were slowly making their way towards town, and soon Chessur could see the lights. As the town lights had started to come into view Chessur noticed that the sky was starting to brighten slightly. Chessur set Ruby down gently and checked the time as she tried to catch her breath. It was almost five in the morning, and Chessur was exhausted.

Chessur looked at Ruby's form with disdain and frustration. She groaned, "I didn't hit you _that_ hard. Why can't you just wake up and use those freakishly long legs."

Ruby remained unconscious despite Chessur's complaints. Chessur even entertained the idea of leaving her here. They were very close to the town, she could just wake up in awhile and lumber down to the hospital. Chessur mumbled, "Madness knows who will stumble upon her until she wakes up though and... she is rather attractive. Damn my weak morals."

Chessur begrudgingly lifted the woman up again. Chessur's own legs were starting to feel like lead and her eyelids were drooping more than ever. She shook off the feeling and started to focus. She needed to cloak the both of them if she didn't want to get arrested. Chessur tightened her grip on Ruby's waist.

She gritted her teeth painfully as a feeling of extreme discomfort and burning came over her. It was a feeling she had almost forgotten. This is what it felt like when she overworked her magic supply. Over the years, Chessur had built up very good endurance to the point she could hold invisibility for up to five hours straight. Though that was assuming she had slept, ate, and hadn't been invisible for three hours straight earlier. Her chest tightened painfully as she felt it start to work.

She felt something click in the back of her head and she knew it was working. Chessur nearly laughed aloud as wave after wave of the burning feeling hit her. She dragged the much taller woman towards the bed and breakfast. Chessur was having trouble standing up as they turned the corner to get on the street the bed and breakfast was on. Chessur felt the cloaking start to weaken and flicker. If any one saw them right now they would look like ghost except for their eyes. Their eyes wouldn't be see through.

Chessur tightened her grip on Ruby even more so. She was grateful that the woman wasn't awake otherwise Chessur's grip might be painful. Chessur focused even more of her energy on keeping up the invisibility. Chessur's knees almost buckled as she felt the magic exit her being and another wave of burning hit her.

Chessur laughed bitterly as they approached the door of the bed and breakfast. Chessur opened the door with her hip and cringed at the high pitched ring of the bell. The counter was unmanned that must mean Granny is at the diner. Chessur thanked every spiritual being she could think of for that.

Chessur glared with pure hatred at the stairs that led up to the floor with rooms. She had never hated a inanimate object more. With a grunt of pain and a cuss every step, Chessur slowly made her way up the stairs. She got up to the second floor, though it took awhile and increasingly colorful language. Chessur was relieved to quickly find one of the closer rooms open and empty. She stumbled into the room and quite literally threw Ruby onto the bed before collapsing onto the floor.

Chessur was on the floor on her hands and knees panting and visible. In once last surge of energy, Chessur used her foot to kick the door closed. Chessur laughed bitterly and panted, "Bloody, fucking, hell."

Sunlight was coming through the window as the sun was starting to rise. It was like it was mocking Chessur. Taunting her with how she had been awake for the whole night. She stayed on the floor glaring at the sunlight that filtered through the window. It took her awhile to catch her breath much less get the will to stand up.

Her first attempt at standing her head started to swim and she fell back to her knees. A frustrated and pained growl rose from Chessur's throat. She shot her eyes tightly as the room started to spin. The only thing that kept her awake was the fact she was indoors. Chessur can't sleep indoors.

Chessur stubbornly tried to stand again after a few minutes. Her stomach growled and clenched painfully from hunger, but she ignored it. Chessur mumbled, "I've been through worse."

She lifted herself up and resisted against her own knees as they tried to give out. She forced herself to stand without assistance or support. She was strong, The Cheshire Cat was strong she should be able to stand without help. Chessur walked slowly over to the dresser next to the bed that Ruby lay still unconscious on. The dresser had a note pad and pen on it. She scribbled down a note with a pen. _Might want to get a check up, when you wake up. Had a fun time carrying your tall ass back to town -Cheshire Cat_ =)

Chessur looked at Ruby once more after she finished the note. Her hair was messy and some of it laid over her face. With a shaking hand, Chessur pulled a twig out of Ruby's dark brown hair and lightly brushed it out of her face. Chessur on shaking legs started to approach the door. She patted Ruby's calf and said, "Have a nice day, you fucking tree."

Chessur slowly left the bed and breakfast. Chessur had to make herself invisible again to get to the forest which caused the burning feeling again though not as intensely. When Chessur had gotten deep enough into the forest and with the little strength she had left climbed up into a tree. Chessur fell into a deep much needed sleep.

Chessur was woken hours later by a powerful tremor that caused the tree she was sleeping in to shake. She swore loudly as she scrambled out of the tree. There were more tremors and Chessur had no idea where they were coming from. She started to run towards town before a tree could collapse on her. She came to one of the roads and that's when she saw him.

"You've got to be bloody kidding me," Chessur screeched as she watched a giant lumber towards town. He was the same giant that Cora had in a cage on Hook's ship, though he was travel size then. Chessur checked the time it was two in the afternoon. Chessur had gone to sleep around six or seven and she still hadn't eaten anything. Chessur stomach growled almost as if to mock her. "Oh, shut up you."

Chessur remembered Cora had told her to keep an eye on everything that was happening in town. Chessur groaned loudly as she started to follow the giant. She took some short cuts and got to town just before him. The second she entered the town she turned herself invisible and was glad to find that she had replenished her magic when had slept.

It didn't take long to find Charming and Snow after the giant made his way into town. Chessur stayed just out of the giant's way as he yelled at the townspeople and destroyed cars. Then Chessur spotted Snow and Charming just as a car was thrown in their direction. The giant stalked off down the street to terrorize the town more. Chessur watched amused as Charming ushered the townspeople in the opposite direction. Always the honorable hero.

Chessur followed Charming and Snow ad they ran to talk down the giant. Charming put his hands up in a surrendering gesture. Charming yelled out, "Wait, you don't have to do this."

The giant turned around and exclaimed, "Yeah, I do. You destroyed everything in my life and now you're going to know what that feels like."

Chessur looked at Charming with an amused smile. What could've saint Charming done to the raving giant? Chessur's eyebrow twitched as she watched the interaction.

"The man you're looking for isn't me," Charming clarified, "That was my twin brother, James, we were separated at birth, he was raised by a ruthless king."

Chessur rolled her eyes. Of course, Saint Charming wasn't the one to do any that could be even considered hurtful.

"Then, where is James," the giant asked hesitantly. Chessur smiled, she knew that Prince James was dead.

"He paid the ultimate price for his arrogance, he's dead," Charming admitted, "You can't do anything more to him."

 _That's a melodramatic way of putting it_ , Chessur thought. Chessur rolled her eyes once again at the prince.

Snow yelled out, "We just want to help you, Anton. We're here because of you, you know our daughter, Emma, you gave her the magic compass."

Chessur raised her eyebrows at the giant, Anton. So, this is the giant Emma left Hook in the care of. Chessur smirked at the whole situation, because it was so wonderfully chaotic.

"Let me talk to Emma. If she says you're good, I'll stop," Anton said slowly.

It was a rather fair deal and diplomatic way of going about it. Though the hesitant look on Snow's face confused Chessur. Chessur knew Snow could be overprotective, but this would be ridiculous.

"She's... kind of, out of town," Snow said cautiously.

Chessur bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from laughing. Oh, this was just great. Chessur smiled widely as she continued to watch the scene unwrap. If Chessur didn't know Snow and Charming like she did, she never would've believed them.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but I'm sure when she gets back, she'll want to talk to you," Snow tried to assure the giant.

"How convenient, every one I want to see isn't available. All you humans do is lie and cheat and kill and I'm sick of it," Anton yelled as he advanced on the Charmings and a dwarf whom Chessur hadn't noticed before. The three took off running with Chessur trotting next to them and Anton chasing them. It took a lot of self restraint on Chessur's part to not laugh, especially when the dwarf got confused about what Charming's real name is. Turns out, his real name is David.

"So, what's the plan?" Snow asked as they ran.

"We lead the giant away from town, so he can't hurt anyone," David said as they ran around a corner. Chessur smirked at the way the couple were running while holding hands.

"If we keep going this way we'll end up at the town line," Snow pointed out. They slowed to a stop and turned to the giant who was coming around a corner and getting caught on power lines.

"Okay, new plan," Charming said as he took a few steps towards the giant.

"What are you doing?" Snow asked.

"Giving him what he wants." David yelled out to the giant, "Anton, why don't we make a deal?"

"I don't make deals with humans," Anton said grudgingly. Chessur rolled her eyes at the stubborn giant.

"Just hear me out," Charming yelled calmly, "I'll surrender myself to you if you spare everyone else in Storybrooke."

Chessur gritted her teeth and glared at the prince. This was stupid and reckless, and doesn't he know he has a wife and daughter that need him.

"David, you can't do this," Snow insisted.

"If I don't everyone will suffer and I can't allow that." Charming turned back to the giant and yelled, "What do you say?"

Anton stared at him for a minute, before saying, "Deal."

Anton surged forward towards the prince. Anton jumped into the air ready to stomp Charming and Snow was too far away. Chessur lunged forward and pushed the prince out if the way just seconds before the giant landed. Chessur fell much closer to where the giant landed and lost her focus on invisibility as she started to feel the ground give way beneath her.

Chessur fell down into a hole that the giant created. She landed gracefully on her feet on an old pipe. She looked around and noticed Anton -now back to travel size- hanging from one of the pipes. He gripped it tightly and Chessur could see cold sweat from fear forming on his forehead. Chessur laughed darkly and growled at the giant, "You're lucky your pipe is too far away for me to reach."

His eyes flickered up to her and she could see the fear burning in his eyes from the drop and her. She looked down to see how deep the hole was, but only saw darkness. Chessur groaned loudly and sat down on the pipe. She mumbled tiredly, "I should've stayed in my tree."

"Chessur?" Snow's voice called out from above them. Chessur looked up and used her hand to block out the sun.

Chessur smiled pleasantly and answered, "The one and only."

"What are you doing here," Snow questioned. She was utterly bewildered by the sudden appearance of Chessur. It also confused her to why Chessur would save her husband, not that she wasn't thankful.

"Mentally, questioning all of my life decisions. Physically, I'm stuck in a hole with a fun-sized giant," Chessur said with fake thoughtfulness. Her cheshire grin was in place the whole time.

"We're going to get you out of there," Charming promised.

Chessur waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "Don't worry about me. It's fun-sized over here who might die."

"I'll be right back, Leroy and I are going to go get the other dwarves and some stuff to help you two up," David assured before the dwarf and him disappeared from view.

Chessur turned to Anton and asked jokingly, "So, come here often?"

She heard a scoff above from Snow. She got no response from fun-sized. Chessur sighed, closing her eyes she leaned against the wall of the hole. She was hoping to maybe catch a nap down here.

"Where have you been, Chessur?" Snow asked as she eyed the girl suspiciously.

"Everywhere and nowhere at all," Chessur answered cryptically without opening her eyes.

"I'm serious," Snow said.

"Hello serious, I'm Chessur," Chessur giggled.

Snow ran her hand over her face and took a deep breath. She tried, "We've been looking for you everywhere."

"Oh, you meant where was I physically?"

"Yes, what else would I have been talking about," Snow exclaimed.

"I've mainly been in the woods," Chessur answered with a smirk. She peeked one eye open as the sound of a couple engines could be heard. "I do believe that would be the rescue team."

The engines were soon shut off and Chessur could hear many voices around the hole. Ruby stuck her head out over the hole. Chessur smiled at the way Ruby's eyes widened when they landed on Chessur. Chessur waved at the woman in a friendly manner. Chessur asked seriously, "How's your head?"

Snow shot Ruby a puzzled look. Ruby gave her best friend a look that said 'I'll explain later'. Ruby turned back to Chessur with a scowl. She answered, "It would be better if it wasn't for you."

"Sorry about that, but I couldn't just let you take me in so easily," Chessur said with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sure you are," Ruby drawled as she looked away to check the others progress.

"Hey, I don't apologize for much, but I can admit that that was a dirty move," Chessur shouted to make sure she was heard. Ruby turned a disbelieving look in her direction. "But, in my defense, I did it because you would've beat me if I hadn't."

Ruby smirked and mumbled, "Damn right."

"I would also like to point out in my defense. That when we fought I hadn't eaten or slept in over twenty-four hours and had exhausted myself by using a lot of magic," Chessur informed.

"Anything else?" Ruby asked amused.

"Well, I also carried you out of the woods through town all the way to the bed and breakfast. While starving, tired, and keeping both of us invisible even though I had almost no energy to do so. Not to mention you are like twice my height," Chessur mentioned as she stretched lazily. "I almost collapsed when I got you to the bed and breakfast."

Ruby snickered and shook her head at the girl. She asked seriously, "Why'd you do it?"

"If you haven't noticed you're a rather attractive young woman, and who knows what kind of creep would've stumbled upon you," Chessur said simply.

Ruby pursed her lips and stared at Chessur. She had been trying to see if Chessur was lying with her werewolf senses. Chessur's body hadn't given off any signs that the girl was lying. Ruby begrudgingly said, "I'm not going to say thank you."

Chessur laughed and said, "I didn't expect you to."

Ruby stepped away from the hole to help with setting everything up. Chessur sat back humming to herself as she waited for the rescue squad to get everything ready. She just sat back humming and thinking. She pondered how long it would take for her body to hit the ground if she were to just jump off this pipe. She wondered if it would be like how Alice had described falling down the rabbit hole. Chessur opened her eyes and looked down into the darkness. It would be so easy to fall off the pipe, just lean a that way a little more...

"Chessur," David shouted from a few feet away. He had been calling out her name for awhile. Trying to get her attention as she slowly leaned towards the darkness.

She sat up straight and looked at him dangling on the rope. Anton was a little ways up the rope climbing towards safety. She hadn't even noticed Charming had come down. She spared the abyss one last look as she stood up on the pipe. It would be so easy to just step off of it, too easy. Chessur shook her head of those thoughts and grabbed the rope. Charming was a little ways above her and was looking at her with concern.

"Let's go Charming, before I get as old as you," Chessur said impatiently. She didn't like the concern and caring look in his eyes. She had saved his life for purely selfish reasons, right?

The two started to climb up the rope. Chessur took her time as she formed an escape plan in her head. Anton had already been pulled out of the hole by the time David got there. He was pulled up by his wife who embraced him after. Chessur came up seconds later with an escape plan in mind. She was pulled up by Ruby who was watching Chessur carefully. Chessur stumbled over to the pick up truck and sat on the bumper.

She watched as everyone simultaneously watched her and celebrated that everyone was safe. Snow approached Chessur backed by everyone with a somewhat guilty look on her face. Chessur noticed one of the dwarves holding a pair of handcuffs. She schooled her features to stay blank despite the smirk wanting to appear on her lips.

"Chessur," Snow said softly, "I appreciate that you saved David's life and everything else you apparently did for Ruby. Although you did some inexcusable stuff and we have to arrest you."

Chessur hung her head and let her hair hang in front of her face to hide her smirk. She forced her face to be blank and got up. She slowly approached the dwarf with the handcuffs. She extended her arms towards the dwarf who eyed her warily.

He moved to put the handcuffs on her and that's when Chessur made her move. She kicked him squarely in the knee cap and grabbed the handcuffs from him. She grabbed the nearest person and wrapped the handcuffs around their neck. Crossing her hands, so she could chock them if needed. Chessur whispered into the girl she had trapped ear, "I'm sorry, really, I won't hurt you."

The girl was about Chessur's age if not older. She had short platinum blond hair that was about jaw length. She looked at Chessur out of the corner of her eyes and whispered back, her voice barely audible, "Okay."

Chessur gave a small ghost of a smile, before hardening her features and turning her smile malicious. She purred, "Here is how it's going to work. You all are going to back up or I'll strangle miss..."

"Lisa," The girl said her voice shaking.

"Or I'll strangle Miss Lisa here," Chessur threatened while looking between the panicked faces.

"Chessur, let the girl go," Snow said slowly.

"As soon as you back the hell up," Chessur growled, "One, two..." Chessur smirked as the crowd frantically shuffled back about ten paces. "Good. Now drop the bow, Snow."

"What? You said you'd let her go after we backed up," Snow remarked angrily.

Chessur snickered when she heard Lisa mumble, "Just drop the damn bow."

Chessur said, "I will, just drop the bow, and Ruby dear _sit_."

"What?" Ruby exclaimed.

"Your speed and Snow's bow have the best chance of stopping me, so be a good girl and sit," Chessur explained with a large smirk. Ruby begrudgingly sat on the ground and Snow threw her bow off to the side. Chessur purred in the back of her throat. She whispered to Lisa, "Please count to ten, Lisa dear. And be prepared to be pushed when you reach ten."

"One, two, three-"

"Let her go, Chessur," Snow demanded.

"Six, seven, eight-"

"It's been fun," Chessur purred. She pressed her lips to Lisa's cheek and winked at the heroes.

"Ten," Lisa breathed out. Chessur pushed the other teenager forward, right into David's arms. She turned herself invisible and ran in a straight towards the dock at full speed. She reached the dock and dived over the railing and into the ocean. The sudden cold shocked Chessur, but she able to keep up her invisibility.

Just as she surfaced, Chessur saw Ruby run to the edge of the dock and stop. Ruby scanned the ocean and looked around the docks. She even sniffed the air, but she couldn't find any trace of Chessur. It was like she had teleported away. Ruby banged her fist on the dock's railing before groaning loudly, "Dammit."

Chessur didn't dare laugh on the off chance that Ruby would here her over the waves. Ruby scanned the ocean once more, before stalking away. Presumably to go report back to the Charmings. Chessur let out a chuckle of relief as Ruby left her sight. That had been close, too close. All because her conscious had gotten the better of her and saved the prince. Chessur leaned back and floated leisurely.

"I'm going to need some new clothes," Chessur mumbled as she lazily kicked her legs to propel her around the dock. Chessur thanked whomever had instilled her with a sense of forethought. In the woods, Chessur had buried a bag filled with clean clothes and other necessities any young girl on the run would need. She was hesitant to use that stash though, it was supposed to be a last resort.

Still invisible Chessur slowly swam towards the shore of the beach. She made sure that she was a good hundred yards or so away from the docks. Chessur stumbled onto the beach her legs weighed down by the water soaked denim of her jeans.

Chessur hummed to herself as she trudged towards the spot where forest met beach. She finally got back into the woods and started heading towards where she had hidden her supplies. She started to sing part of her ling forgotten song, " _Run faster. Run faster. From the house, be as silent as a mouse. Lengthen your stride. There is nowhere to hide._ "

Chessur took out her pocket watch and ran her thumb over the intricate details as she walked and hummed. Chessur was grateful that the watch was not only enchanted to always tell the correct time, but also to always stay in good shape. Chessur wouldn't know what she would do if the watch broke. It was the only thing she had in her possession that proved that they were real. That all her friends had been real and not some messed up figment of her imagination.

There was one other thing that might be in town from Chessur's time in Wonderland. Chessur thought about that for a second. Had she left it with Rumple? The last time she could remember having it with her was when she was working with Rumple. She resolved to go check it out after she changed. The possibility that it was here put an extra pep in Chessur's step.

Chessur finally came to the tree she had buried the bags under. Using her bare hands, Chessur dug up several big Ziploc bags filled with many things except food sadly. She changed her bra and underwear. She pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans and switched them with the one's she was wearing. She traded her grey jacket and purple shirt for a long sleeved grey t-shirt. Chessur rolled up the sleeves of her new shirt up to her elbows. She also put on a brown leather belt and black tennis shoes.

Chessur took the damp clothes and hung them from the highest branch she could securely climb to. After brushing her damp hair and brushing her teeth, Chessur reburied the rest of the plastic bags. She tucked the pocket watch and lock picks securely in her back pocket, before setting off towards town.

It had been a long last thirty six hours for Chessur. It would all be worth it if she was right about it being in Rumple's shop. If she could find this one thing it would be like regaining a small piece of them. Chessur was more excited to do this than she had been excited about anything for awhile. Her clothes stuck uncomfortably to her wet skin. She was starving to the point her stomach wouldn't even make noises just clench painfully. She was starting to get tired again. If anyone saw her they would immediately try to arrest her or call the heroes. Though it didn't matter, because for the first time in awhile Chessur had something to hope for.

She turned invisible and broke into a sprint. Chessur ran as fast as she could to Rumple's shop. It only took her a few minutes to reach the pawn shop. Chessur was tempted to just break open the front door, but she knew she had to be careful. She ran around to the back door and picked the lock in record time.

Chessur closed the door behind her as she entered the back room of the shop. Chessur closed her eyes and tried to focus in on the magic of the building. Most of Rumple's possessions had some kind of magical property, but what she was looking for would stick out.

She walked through the back room with her eyes closed and breathing deeply. Chessur could almost feel it, the Wonderland magic reaching out to her. She followed the feeling into the front room. It was even stronger in here. Chessur knew for sure now, it was here. Chessur stood in the middle of the front room. She reached out with her magic calling it to her, but she couldn't quite pinpoint where in the room it was.

Chessur focused her thoughts on Wonderland and her time there. The dark blue silk of The White Rabbit's, Horace's, waistcoat and how it contrasted with his white fur. The way March's ears twitched at unnatural angles and his obsession with extra sugar in his tea. The Mad Hatter and how his hat always sat jauntily on his head and how he had a single chipped tooth. The smell of The Blue Caterpillar's cigar like maple and campfire smoke. How Sophia refused to wear dresses unless they were the ones Bellerose had tailored for her. Bellerose, her White Rose. The way her pure white hair would reach her waist and how here eyes would soften when they landed on Chessur. How she used to look at the stars with Chessur and how her eyes would become like the stars themselves when she laughed. Chessur had realized too late that she had been her mother. Alice had been Chessur's best friend and Chessur hated that she remembers so vividly all the laughs and adventures they had together.

Chessur didn't even notice that she had started crying. Then she felt it, it was responding to her call. Chessur's eyes snapped open and she put her hand towards were it was calling for. She watched as the picture on the wall started to shake and tremble. Chessur gritted her teeth and focused her magic towards the wall. She could feel it there was some kind of magic try to keep it from her. Chessur grunted in pain as she felt it try to come to her and the interfering spell trying to keep her out at the same time.

Chessur could see the whole wall start to shake and things were falling off their hooks and shelves. Chessur let out a cry of pain as the interfering spell sent jolts of electricity through her body. Chessur refused to give up this easily, it belonged to her. She was the last true ambassador of the White Kingdom of Wonderland.

Something crashed off to her right as she sent another surge of magic at the wall. Another cry of pain was ripped from her lips as the interfering spell sent wave after wave of electricity through her body.

Chessur could see them as more ignored tears fell from her eyes. She was starting to see things, but they looked so real. March and Sophia appeared and said, "Come on, Chessur, hurry up, we want to go create some chaos." They ran off and disappeared into a wall.

Chessur blinked rapidly at wear they had disappeared before refocusing on the wall. Chessur mumbled to herself, "They aren't real. They aren't real. _They aren't real_."

Smoke clouded her vision for a moment and she swore she could smell the mae and campfire smoke. The Blue Caterpillar said in his deep raspy voice, "Oh, Cheshire Cat don't you see? Having darkness does not make you evil or ugly, just as the light not always mean good things. There are plenty of monsters with pretty faces that bathe in the sunshine."

"They aren't real," Chessur reminded herself as she focused more magic at the wall. She bit her tongue to keep from crying out in pain and she could taste blood in her mouth.

Chessur heard a deep chuckle and looked out of the corner of her eye. There stood a slightly younger Jefferson with his messy jaw length hair and hat at a jaunty angle. He said smoothly smiling, "I promise, Chessur, it won't have magic, but I will make you your own hat."

He stumbled back and fell as if he had been tackled. His laughter rang out as the illusion disappeared into the floor. Chessur chanted and pushed herself further, "They aren't real."

"You're late, again, Chessur," said Horace while he thumped his foot. He had his pocket watch out. The one Chessur now probably called hers and carried around as a reminder. He chuckled and said as he disappeared, "You're lucky we like you."

Chessur grunted as a new wave of tears slid down her face and another jolt hit her. Chessur should've known this wasn't going to be easy. She whispered, "They aren't real. They aren't real."

Chessur heard an unmistakable giggle, but she refused to look at this illusion. The illusion walked in front of her with her hands on her hips. Her newly blonde hair falling just below her shoulders and framing her face. Alice's full lips formed a pout and she said, "I hope you know this is your fault, Ashley?"

Chessur gave in to the illusion and asked with a smirk, "What is?"

"It's blonde," Alice's thirteen year old form exclaimed.

"What's blonde?" Chessur asked her voice cracking slightly.

"My hair, it's blonde because of those berries," Alice yelled as she threw her hands up in the air.

"What berries?" Chessur asked lowly.

"I'm not amused, Ashley. My hair was black now it's blonde, because of those berries. Why didn't you tell me they did that?"

"I did," Chessur said weakly as more tears choked her, "You said I was playing another one of my tricks and said to come up with better nonsense next time."

Alice crossed her arms over her chest, "Berries that change people's hair color _is_ utter nonsense."

"What did you think Wonderland was, Alice dear?"

Alice smiled shyly and then she disappeared like sand being blown away by wind. The wall was shaking more than ever and more jolts were hitting Chessur more frequently. Chessur knew this was either a side effect of the interfering spell or her own messed up subconscious, but it felt so real. These were real memories of her friends that she remembered. Chessur didn't feel like the madwoman and murderer she had become right now. Right now, she felt like that little girl back in Wonderland who could save her friends.

Then she saw her. Bellerose. The White Queen. Her White Rose. Chessur smiled weakly at the mirage. Chessur remembered the dress Bellerose was wearing and the night she had worn it. The ball on Alice's sixteenth birthday, five months before the final battle, and the same night they found out that Alice was the prophesied savior.

Bellerose had the demeanor of a queen and looked like an angel in her long pure white dress. She walked towards Chessur and wrapped her arms around the girl's stomach and rested her chin on her shoulder. It was strange to be hugged by a mirage. It was like being touched by slightly heavier air. She wasn't being touched this was the faint memory of how her touch had felt that night.

"Chess," Bellerose's soft voice rang in her ears. Bellerose had a British sounding accent like Chessur did though her was accent was much melodic and delicate. "I know this might seem like a lot to just spring on you, but I have an offer for you."

Chessur choked out, "What is it, White Rose?"

"Well, I know you are young and you don't have to answer right away, but," Bellerose hesitated before taking a deep breath, "I care for you deeply you know that right?"

"And I, you, White Rose," Chessur said. She added something she wished she had said that night, "I consider you my mother and I love you as such."

"Well, if you want to, I would like to name you rightful heir to the throne of the White Kingdom," Bellerose said quickly and she bit her lip nervously as she waited for Chessur's answer.

"Are you serious, my queen? I mean I'm no royal and what if you have a child?"

"Of course, I'm serious, and I would want no one to succeed me if not you," Bellerose said fondly, "You'd make a great queen, Ashley."

Chessur could feel the illusion start to disappear and she answered the queen as she did that night, "Then let it be done, White Rose."

Chessur felt the illusion disappear and she cried out in pain as another jolt of electricity hit her. Chessur focused all her energy at the wall and she growled through gritted teeth, "As the rightful heir to the White Kingdom of Wonderland, I command you forsake your bonds and come to me."

Chessur felt the interfering spell break and a long slender silver object broke through the wall and flew into Chessur's hand. Chessur gripped the sword with all her remaining strength and fell to her knees. Chessur looked at the sword, the Jabberwocky blade, as it was called in Wonderland.

The hilt and guard was made of Jabberwocky bone and the pommel carved to look like the bird like head of one. The sheath was pure silver with iron pieces carved to look like a Jabberwocky decorating its middle and ends. The sheath had a leather strap to go around ones' shoulder. Chessur pulled the blade from it's sheath and gripped the leather wrapped grip tightly. The blade itself was thirty inches long. Made out of enchanted steel, that in poor lighting like this Chessur could see the light blue glow it gave off. Chessur ran her finger on the razor sharp edge and lightly pressed her finger tip of the sharp point. On the center of the grip was the royal seal of the White Kingdom of Wonderland. A white crown with three jewels on a shield with alternating blue and black stripes.

Chessur smiled happily, a part of her couldn't believe it was here. She was still reeling from the illusion and she held on to the sword tightly. She was afraid it was going to disappear like them.

-coc-

 _Chessur stood on the hill laughing loudly. She whistled at the guards who had been chasing March and Sophia. She successfully diverted their attention from her friends. Chessur waved at the guards giddily._

 _T_ _hey were so foolish that they didn't even notice that Sophia was tying their shoe laces together. Chessur_ _exclaimed proudly as she threw her hands in the air, after receiving a thumbs up from March, "'Tis I, the great, the mysterious, and the heroic, the creator of chaos, The Cheshire Cat."_

 _"The_ _Cheshire Cat, your the one the queen wants the head of?" a soldier questioned suspiciously._

 _"The_ _one and only," Chessur answered with a wink. They had already set the horses and mules free right under the soldiers' noses. This next part was just for the fun of it._

 _"What are you waiting for, men? Get her!" The commander yelled at his men._

 _Chessur's eyebrow twitched in amusement. The soldiers tried to surge forward, but fell over face first into the dirt._ _Chessur_ _laughed loudly, "It's been a pleasure, Commander, but you're troops look a little tied up at the moment, so I'm going to go. But, you can tell that supposed queen of hearts that she should mess with Wonderlandians, we fight dirty."_

 _ **If you haven't forgiven me for taking an extra week to write that last chapter here is a really long chapter. Thank you to all the people who have favourited, followed, and/or reviewed, they mean the world to me. I told you Chessur would be doing some of her own stuff once she got to Storybrooke. =)**_


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